Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-10-22-Speech-1-050"
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"en.20011022.4.1-050"2
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"Mr President, the goalposts have now changed, given the sheer level of inhumanity shown by terrorists pursuing their so-called political objectives. Terrorists are now willing to engage in suicide missions. This simply means that the international community must now fully re-evaluate how best it can put in place security measures to defeat these acts of blatant and premeditated terrorism.
From an Irish perspective, we are deeply concerned about the safety and security arrangements at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria. At a time when one would expect a scaling-down of nuclear enterprises in Britain, the British government has announced that the MOX nuclear facility can go ahead at Sellafield. Instead of closing the Sellafield nuclear plant on safety, environmental and economic grounds, the British governments has agreed to the expansion of operations there. This is not only a problem for the Irish people: it is also a problem for the British people and for the wider European Union. For instance, how do the British people like the idea of trains carrying nuclear materials continuing to run through London and other cities in Britain? While the American government has halted the movement of potentially dangerous nuclear materials, BNFL is insisting that it will run its nuclear trains from reactors to its controversial Sellafield reprocessing plant.
In this growing atmosphere of international terrorism, surely it is grossly irresponsible to continue this transportation. Equally, the transportation of nuclear materials via the Irish Sea sends shivers down the spine of many people living in Ireland. As a representative of the East coast of Ireland, I have always resented the Irish Sea being used as a rubbish tip for the activities of British Nuclear Fuels. The decision of the British government to expand the operations of the Sellafield nuclear plant is a contentious one by any stretch of the imagination. The timing of this decision, however, is a highly cynical one, considering that it was made as a smokescreen at the same time as war was declared on terrorism. This is a clear case of the British government using the war on terrorism to distract attention from awkward and contentious decisions. In this climate this is simply not good enough.
The safety and security at the Sellafield plant is as much a matter of concern for the European Union as it is for the Irish and British governments. The British government should make the honourable decision to close this nuclear white elephant once and for all. But over the next few weeks the Commission should and must carry out a full and independent evaluation of all the environmental public health risks of all operations of BNFL at the Sellafield nuclear plant. The people of Ireland are fed up with pious assurances from BNFL and the British government about safety standards at Sellafield. We were all horrified recently when BNFL had to bring back nuclear materials from Japan, because it had falsified documents. After this incident alone, how can any reasonable person believe for one moment anything that is written in a press release by BNFL?
I can assure all Members of this House that we in Ireland will vigorously pursue every political, legal and diplomatic option open to us to force the British government to close the Sellafield nuclear plant. This Sellafield nuclear plant has achieved nothing, except to heap environmental misery on us all."@en1
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