The operator of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in the United Kingdom was fined €743,000 (£500,000) today for a radioactive leak.
Around 83,000 tonnes of acid containing 20 tonnes of uranium and 160 kilograms of plutonium escaped from a broken pipe into a sealed concrete-holding site at the site.
No one was injured in the leak, and no radiation escaped from the plant in west Cumbria.
Irish campaigners have for years urged the British government to close the plant because of its proximity to Ireland's coastline.
Fine Gael environment spokesman Fergus O'Dowd described the fine as "an absolute pittance".
The Co Louth TD said: "Sellafield is only 90 miles from the Irish coastline and is a clear and present danger to our country."
"I have absolutely no confidence in Sellafield's management and its ability to run the plant safely. The management concerned must be held personally accountable and fired without delay," he added.
The company was handed the fine at Carlisle Crown Court today after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to three counts of breaching conditions attached to the Sellafield site licence, granted under the UK's Nuclear Installations Act 1965.
The court heard that the leak should have been detected within days rather than the eight months it took.
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Openshaw said British Nuclear Group Sellafield "did not have a good safety record". The penalty must serve as a reminder that health and safety is a serious matter and achieving public safety is of paramount importance, he said.
The court was told that a change in the handling process had caused the leak.
PA