The decision of a British court to levy an €850,000 fine on the Sellafield nuclear plant offers "little comfort" that the British authorities will tackle its "poor safety culture", the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, has said.
British Nuclear Group was fined £500,000 (€743,000), plus £68,000 in costs at Carlisle Crown Court yesterday for failing to spot and stop an eight-month long leak of 83,400 litres of radioactive liquid within the plant's grounds.
The liquid contained 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg of plutonium escaped from a broken pipe into a sealed concrete holding site. No-one was injured and no radiation escaped from the plant.
The decision of the UK Health and Safety Executive to take a prosecution was welcome, and the fine "goes some way towards reflecting the serious issues" caused by the leak, he said.
"However, it gives little comfort that the poor ongoing safety culture identified can, or will, be tackled by the United Kingdom authorities," the Minister said.
The company's own internal report found that staff believed the new Thorp reprocessing plant would not leak and that "nothing could go wrong since the plant was relatively new".
It also showed that staff had failed to carry out safety tests that would have revealed the 2005 leak earlier and a camera examination because it would have curbed production, he said.
"We have been here before. The new safety dawn promised, and ultimately signed off on, by the UK regulatory authorities has proved to be false. The Irish Government's concerns are in no way diminished by this episode.
"This leak provides further evidence, if such were needed, that the UK authorities should make the current shutdown of the Thorp plant a permanent feature," said the Minister.
The Government will continue to hold the British government "accountable and responsible" for Sellafield's operations in the UK and to the European Commission, he said.
Demanding Sellafield's closure, Fine Gael TD Fergus O'Dowd said the fine is "an absolute pittance", particularly since the Crown Court judge reduced it from £750,000.
"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," said the Louth TD.
"The fact that enough nuclear waste to fill a 25 metre pool leaked undetected for months highlights the lax attitude to safety at the plant and the real danger it poses to Ireland.
"Time and time again, the Government and the Irish people have been told lies about Sellafield with leaks covered up and safety records falsified. And [ it] still represents a prime terrorist target," he said.
Labour spokesman on nuclear safety, Emmet Stagg, said the fine was "a significant decision", but it was, nevertheless, "insufficient" given the potential threat that Sellafield posed for Ireland.
"For years Ireland has had to put up with ongoing discharge of harmful waste into the Irish Sea and the risk of a nuclear explosion or a major terrorist attack on one of the British plants.
"The British government, however, seem totally oblivious to the serious safety implications any major accident would pose," said Mr Stagg.
Green Party TD Ciarán Cuffe said British prime minister Tony Blair should note the remarks of the presiding judge, that Sellafield "did not have a good safety record".
"This should be a stark reminder to the UK of the danger of proceeding with a new programme of nuclear power stations," he said.
