MOX plant set to start up today despite objections

Sellafield's controversial MOX plant comes into operation this morning despite strenuous diplomatic and legal moves to block it. The Government and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland have criticised the decision to commission the plant.

Sellafield's operators, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, confirmed yesterday that the MOX plant, which will manufacture nuclear reactor fuel pellets, will open today as planned. "It is our current plan that we will be introducing plutonium into the facility on or around the 20th as planned," a spokesman said yesterday. "All the legal challenges have basically been cleared, the last one being the judicial review brought by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth."

One of the first actions in the plant will be to load highly toxic plutonium dust into its production systems. The MOX (mixed oxide) facility will blend plutonium and uranium into reactor fuel and once exposed to these substances the plant will become a radioactive biohazard. "We are currently on schedule to do that on or around Thursday," the spokesman said.

It will still take some weeks of preparation before the plant can begin making usable fuel, he added. "It is not a question of pushing a big green button and you get MOX out the other end."

The plutonium and uranium will come from material recovered by the Thorp spent-fuel reprocessing plant which sits adjacent to MOX on the Sellafield complex. The company has an estimated 70 tonnes of plutonium on site.

The Minister of State with special responsibility for nuclear safety, Mr Joe Jacob, strongly criticised the decision to open the plant, describing the action as extremely arrogant. "It defies logic. It defies reason. It defies the laws of natural justice," he said.

It was morally wrong to pollute the environment, he said, "but when that environment forms part of another jurisdiction I can only describe it as a form of selfishness that knows no bounds and one that recognises no boundaries".

The chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute, Dr Tom O'Flaherty, also condemned the decision. "It is highly objectionable that the environment, particularly the marine environment is being contaminated with radioactive substances," he said. "The RPII greatly regrets that the start up of the MOX plant at Sellafield is to go ahead today."

Green party TD Mr John Gormley travelled to Cumbria yesterday with members of the Union of Students in Ireland. They hope to protest outside the gates of Sellafield this morning and plan to take "direct action" in blockading the plant. "This is a historic but black day for Ireland," he said yesterday.

Ms Nuala Ahern MEP warned that the decision to commission the plant "is irreversible" once plutonium is introduced. "I think this is a really nasty Christmas present to give everyone," she said.