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‘Hot
Spots’ at Sellafield require Government Action -Green Party
The
Green Party has called for action by the Irish Government arising from
today’s report by the Radiological Protection Institute’s (RPII) on
its visit to Sellafield.
Green
Party Environment Spokesperson Ciarán Cuffe stated:
“We
want the Irish Government to apply pressure on Tony Blair to speed up
the vitrification of liquid waste at Sellafield. We also want
reassurances that enough is being done to protect the Irish People
complex from the risk of plant failures and terrorist attacks at
Sellafield
“It’s
only two months since Sellafield management revealed that they could not
account for thirty kilograms of plutonium in 2004. Now we are told that
there are ‘spikes’ or
‘hot-spots’ of radioactivity in some of the activity in some of the
Highly Active Storage Tanks (HASTs).
“These
tanks contain 30 times as much Cesium-137 as the Chernobyl Reactor.
“If
the walls of the Spent Fuel Ponds at Sellafield were breached the
release of the radioactive Caesium 137 could cause as much as a million
cancer deaths worldwide. The tanks of liquid fission product waste also
pose a significant threat. These risks are unacceptable to the Irish
people.
“Although
British Nuclear Fuels have increased the level of protection at
Sellafield the complex is still vulnerable to terrorism.
“We
want Bertie Ahern to meet with Tony Blair and convey Irish concerns
directly to the British prime Minister.”
ENDS
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CiaranCuffe.com