Object to Sellafield - McGrady

THE South Down SDLP MP, Mr Eddie McGrady, has urged people in the North individually and collectively to lodge objections to the proposed expansion at the Sellafield nuclear site.

Mr McGrady, in a planning appeal submission, has described Nirex's proposals for a "rock characterisation laboratory" at Sellafield as the first move in establishing Sellafield as the world's main storage facility for reprocessed radioactive waste.

There was compelling evidence that Sellafield was unsuitable for such storage, Mr McGrady said yesterday. It was a "pretence" to suggest that Nirex - the waste disposal wing of the British nuclear industry - was merely seeking to establish an "experimental laboratory at the cost of £350 million".

"Compelling scientific and geological evidence clearly highlights the fact that the Sellafield site is totally unsuitable for the storage of the world's reprocessed radioactive waste," he added.

Eminent and independent scientists had issued "damning information".

He urged people to lodge objections to the project by writing to: The Nirex Inquiry, Cleator Moor Civic Hall, Cleator Moor, near Whitehaven, Cumbria CA25 5AR; and also to the British Department of Environment HQ 2 Marsham Street, London.

A £3 million damages claim has been lodged against Mayo County Council which, if successful, could have serious financial implications for the authority.

It has arisen over the imposition by the council of a ban on gold mining in the region, a move which was found to be illegal by the High Court.

Now two prospecting companies, Andaman Resources and Glencar Explorations, have issued writs seeking compensation for losses they sustained while the embargo was in place.

In 1992 councillors had voted by a 22-to-8 majority - acting against official advice - to include in the County Development Plan a blanket prohibition against the extraction of minerals from a 300 sq mile tract of land around Clew Bay.

But when challenged in the High Court by the mining companies, Mr Justice Blaney ruled the council had exceeded its powers. The legal action cost the council £100,000. Mr Des Mahon, the Mayo County Manager, decided not to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

Estimates suggested gold deposits in the area were worth £800 million.

A spokesman for Mayo County Council confirmed that the mining companies were proceeding with a claim for damages against it. "It would cost us in the order of £2 million to £3 million if they are successful," he said.

The matter has been listed for hearing in the High Court later this year.