The Government has instituted legal proceedings against Britain over the proposed new nuclear reprocessing facility at Sellafield.
The action follows the British government’s decision to open a MOX (mixed oxide) plant in addition to the existing facility at Sellafield in Cumbria.
Part of the action, taken under the terms of the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, is to prevent the movement of radioactive materials in the Irish Sea.
The Government said any new security measures following the September 11th attacks on the US had not been made known to Ireland and that information on the proposed plant has been withheld.
The Government want authorisation for the MOX plant suspended pending the creation of an arbitration tribunal.
If the British refuse to co-operate by November 9th, then the matter will be referred to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
The legal documents were served on the British government yesterday. The proceedings are separate from the arbitration process begun in June under the terms of the OSPAR Convention (the Oslo/Paris accord governing protection of marine environments) seeking information of the MOX facility.
The proposed plant at Sellafied reprocesses weapons-grade plutonium and uranium into MOX fuels for use in nuclear power reactors. British Nuclear Fuel intend to thenb export the MOX fuel to Japan.
The Minister for State at the Department of Public Enterprise with responsibility for nuclear safety Mr Joe Jacob said Ireland had "fully exhausted all other avenues open to us to no avail".
"The Irish Government is determined to make every effort to stop the MOX plant becoming operational," he said.