Officials from the Department of Public Enterprise are meeting with their British counterparts today to stress Ireland’s objections to plans to expand nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield.
The meeting follows yesterday’s confirmation by the Government that it is to take a case to the European Court of Justice against the approval for the opening of a £460 million plant at the British Nuclear Fuels complex in Cumbria.
Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace today launched a legal challenge in the High Court in London to stop the mixed oxide (MOX) plant at Sellafield. The environmental groups have applied for a judicial review of the decision which it claims is unlawful as the economic benefits of the scheme have been "distorted" and there is insufficient evidence the plant would attract customers.
A spokesman for the Department of Public Enterprise said officials at today’s meeting would "press home" the Irish position and outline the intended legal action.
He said: "Officials would point out the Government is not prepared to put up with the development of the MOX plant."
The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern told the Dáil yesterday the Government would continue to do everything it could legally and politically to stop the British government from pursuing its proposals.
Senior officials from the Taoiseach’s office have also spoken to their counterparts in the British Prime Minister’s, Mr Tony Blair, office to convey Mr Ahern’s concerns over the approval for the MOX plant.
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said today Mr Ahern would talk to Mr Blair at the earlier opportunity over the next 48 hours to raise the Government’s objections in person.
Mr Blair is currently in Pakistan as part of his coalition-building tour against international terrorism.