Sir, - I was pleased to see that Michael Folger, chief executive of Britain's nuclear-waste disposal company, NIREX, reads The kislz Times and can see that the Irish people has serious concerns over the UK nuclear industries activities (February 19th). I felt, however, that his arguments were misleading and in favour of his company's business - to find a dump for British and imported nuclear waste.
Mr Folger attempts soothing reassurances in his letter, suggesting that the rock geology near Sellafield appears suitable for underground dumping of nuclear waste. This ignores the very significant doubts expressed by the company's own chief scientist, Dr Holmes, whose internal memorandum highlighting this difficulty you rightly mentioned in your leader "Sellafield Syndrome" (February 11th).
Mr Folger refers to "international regulations" surrounding radioactive waste disposal as being "some of the most stringent in the world". Unfortunately, no such international regulations exist at all! The best we have at the moment is a relatively new convention on the management of nuclear wastes, prepared by the pro-nuclear International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. The convention is advisory, not standard setting.
Mr Folger claims that if NIREX is given permission to construct its experimental "rock laboratory", it will be able to establish the suitability of the proposed site for the subterranean dumping repository. Sir John Knill, the chairman of Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC), said in a letter to the British Environment Minister (January 24th) that NIREX's own chief scientists memorandum conceded the possibility that the Sellafield site was "inherently-not characterisable to the requisite level." He added: "Dr Holmes's minute reflects a starkly different assessment of the likelihood of achieving an acceptable safety case for a deep repository for intermediate level radioactive waste at Sellafield as compared to any that has been published."
I have raised the Sellafield question recently in Strasbourg with both the Transport Commissioner, Neil Kinnock, formerly Britain's Labour Party Leader, and with the Dutch Presidency of the European Union. The British Government will not only have to consider - rightly - Irish objections to its nuclear plans which threaten environmental safety, but also European objections to the continued transport of dangerous radioactive cargoes to and from Sellafield through the Irish Sea.
Like the people of Gorleben who are protesting against nuclear waste being dumped on them, we do not want a nuclear-waste dump on the shores of the Irish Sea. German waste is transported regularly to Sellafield under contract, and when reprocessed will be returned to Gorleben. Nobody wants it - neither they nor ourselves. Why don't we stop producing it? - Yours, etc.,
La Touche Place, Greystones, Co Wicklow.