The environmental group Greenpeace has warned the Government to take much stronger action to prevent shipment of nuclear fuel from Britain if it does not want to see significant scaling-up of BNFL's operations in Sellafield.
The call came as the MV Greenpeace vessel docked in Dublin prior to travelling to Barrow in Cumbria, where the first shipment of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) to Japan is likely to take place within days, according to Mr Mike Townsley of Greenpeace International. It will coincide with another ship leaving Cherbourg in France with fuel from the Cogema reprocessing facility at La Hague.
Separate to the considerable issues of security and risk of accident, the shipments were the first steps towards the French and British nuclear industries getting government approval for massive expansion of their MOX production facilities, he added.
A Greenpeace campaigner, Mr John Bowler, said he feared a perception among Irish people that Sellafield had somehow gone away; "that we're winning". Yet there was a risk of losing the gains achieved with the help of governments since the 1950s.
If the first shipment was successful, it would lead to commissioning the MOX plant at Sellafield which uses separated plutonium (generated by reprocessing) and combines it with mixed oxide or plutonium fuel for use in conventional nuclear reactors. Some 80 shipments were likely over the following decade. "If that plant is allowed to open, then it will not only mean further shipments of plutonium MOX through the Irish Sea, but it will be used to justify the continued operation of the Thorp plant, leading to further massive contamination of the marine environment."
Meanwhile, BNFL held a briefing on the transport arrangements for the shipments at Barrow and insisted the protection measures "meet or exceed all relevant international recommendations and requirements".
The arrangements matched the key US-Japan agreement on peaceful use of nuclear energy, a spokeswoman said. In particular, there would be an armed escort vessel to accompany the transport ship from departure to arrival. Armed officers from the UK Atomic Energy Authority would provide on-board protection, while the two transport ships would sail in convoy.
The safety features of the vessels would include double hulls to withstand collision damage; dual navigation, tracking and communications systems and twin engines. Departure times and details of the cargo and route would not be indicated until "one or two days before departure".
Green TD Mr Trevor Sargent said the Government position needed clarification immediately, as the Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources, Dr Woods, had expressed concern about the shipments, yet BNFL had claimed the Government accepted the safety precautions put in place.
