Sir, – I was pleased to read your Editorial about the closure of the Sellafield MOX plant (August 9th). You accurately noted how its closure is welcomed by anti-nuclear groups in Ireland and how it is a colossal waste of public money, hugely inefficient and with a far from impressive safety record. The same can be said of the Sellafield Thorp plant. You hint though at the new white elephant in the room.
A couple of months ago the UK government issued a public consultation with a “preliminary” view that the UK’s record levels of weapons usable plutonium could be reprocessed in a brand new Sellafield MOX facility. It is also quite possible that waste from the new proposed generation of nuclear power stations, being planned for the UK, will also use such a facility.
Our organisation believes this would replicate all the mistakes of the past and leave Ireland looking once again nervously across the Irish Sea at yet more development of a facility with many high-risk issues already (such as a number of highly radioactive liquid waste tanks). There are also plans to build new multiple nuclear reactors at Sellafield, while a deep underground waste dump is being considered nearby in West Cumbria. The plutonium should be immobilised and stored safely. We totally agree with your final statement: the Irish Government should put all the pressure it can on to the UK government that none of these proposals should go ahead. The Irish people would expect nothing less of it. – Yours, etc,