Reports that the £600 million MOX plant at Sellafield is eight years behind schedule proves "there is no economic or environmental grounds for the facility to go ahead", Louth Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Seamus Kirk has claimed.
Louth Fianna Fáil TD, Mr Seamus Kirk
Mr Kirk said: "It is clear that the MOX plant is not just an environmental time bomb, it is also a bankrupt white elephant that has yet to generate any revenue."
He said: "It is now time for economic common-sense to prevail and for the facility to be taken off line". Mr Kirk, who is the chairman of the Fianna Fáil Parliamentary Party, said: "The MOX facility is an environmental and security threat to the entire Irish East coast, however if the plant ever becomes operational it will also prolong the life of Sellafield and lead to increased nuclear traffic though the Irish Sea".
He said: "I have no doubt these revelations will add to the determination of the Government and the Attorney General to continue pursuing every legal avenue to close MOX and end all operations at the Sellafield site."
The Government has pursued a legal battle against Britain for a number of years to have the controversial plant at the Sellafield shut down.
Environmental campaigners say damaging radioactive pollution is produced by the discharge of waste from the MOX (mixed plutonium and uranium oxide) treatment plant at Sellafield.