Row halts MEPs' vote on nuclear waste

A ROW which broke out over attendance at the final session yesterday has embarrassed French MEPs in their struggle to keep the…

A ROW which broke out over attendance at the final session yesterday has embarrassed French MEPs in their struggle to keep the European Parliament in Strasbourg. Voting was abandoned because of the row.

Ironically, the dispute was triggered by the leader of the French Gaullist and Fianna Fail group, Mr Jean Claude Pasty, when he for a quorum. He had been angered when his objections to a resolution asking for an inquiry on the transport of nuclear waste to reprocessing plant's such as Sellafield were being rejected.

Only 179 of the 626 MEPs were present, and as the quorum is 209, no votes could be allowed. There is a tacit convention that MEPs do not call for a quorum on a Friday morning because most have left to catch flights home.

The MEPs who were present were critical of Mr Pasty. One Irish MEP pointed out to him that none of his Fianna Fail colleagues was present.

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Another Irish MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna of the Greens, said that a check should be made on the number of MEPs who signed on that morning to claim expenses and those in the chamber for the voting.

MEPs who want the Parliament to move permanently to Brussels said that the Friday morning sessions were becoming a farce because members had to leave on Thursday to get back to their constituencies. They blame the lack of adequate communications with Strasbourg.

The argument went on for almost an hour as visiting school children watched amused from the public gallery.

The motion on the transport of radioactive waste arose from concern about plans for producing a nuclear fuel using plutonium called MOX (mixed oxide fuel). Those sponsoring the resolution want to assess the risks for public safety and the environment of the transport of nuclear materials related to the production of MOX.

The Irish Green MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, said in a statement that because Sellafield was now producing MOX, plutonium would be transported through the Irish Sea. Ships with a deadly cargo passed in some cases within five miles of Tuskar Rock and "are an accident waiting to happen that could make Ireland a zone even worse than Chernobyl."