Fine Gael leader Mr Enda Kenny has written to the British Prime Minister asking him to allow the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) visit the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.
Mr Kenny visited the plant earlier this week and met officals in British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL). Mr Kenny said after the visit that BNFL managers had no objection to giving access to the RPII but were prevented from so doing by the British government.
In the letter given to the British Ambassador in Dublin this morning, Mr Kenny asks Mr Blair "to lift as a matter of urgency the restrictions on the RPII so that this technical body can be provided with adequate access to facilities and information so that it can provide the necessary assurance to the Irish people".
The Department of Environment said the Government had already set up an informal agreement on access with BNFL.
In a statement released this afternoon, the British ambassador Mr Stewart Eldon said the debate on the nuclear issue between Ireland and the UK should be "based firmly on the scientific facts.""The Ambassador confirmed that discharges from Sellafield remain at all times well within internationally agreed limits and that the UK remains committed to its obligations under the OSPAR Convention," the statement added.
During Mr Kenny's visit to Sellafield it emerged that discharges of radioactive material into the Irish Sea are set to increase.
