The announcement that new technology to be employed at the controversial Sellafield nuclear plant will reduce the discharge of a radioactive substance into the Irish Sea by 90 per cent was given a cautious welcome by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, and the Opposition yesterday.
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), the British Department of the Environment and the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate announced the successful testing of a chemical process which will reduce emissions of technetium-99 (Tc-99).
Some 30 per cent of the radiation dose received by the Irish population from the Irish Sea has been attributed to the substance, which has been found in shellfish and other marine life.
Mr Cullen said the news was "a significant breakthrough" and long overdue, but that it by no means marked the end of the campaign to ensure the cessation of "all radioactive discharges" into the Irish Sea.
"The Irish Government has always said that at a minimum, we want to bring an end to the discharge of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea. We have taken a considerable step forward towards achieving that goal today," Mr Cullen said.
"The Irish Government has for many years now expressed strong objections to the UK government about discharges from Sellafield of technetium-99. We have built alliances with the Nordic countries who are also affected by technetium-99 discharges, and we are now seeing the results of that alliance."
Mr Cullen said the announcement was long overdue, given that in 1998 Britain gave a commitment to the OSPAR Commission on the protection of the marine environment that it would address concerns raised by a number of states about discharges of the substance.
He said he hoped the success of the new treatment process would provide an impetus for "early and significant reductions of all other radionuclides from Sellafield".
Cllr Mary White, the deputy leader of the Green Party, said the new work practices at Sellafield were "a step in the right direction".
She also questioned the delay by the British government in implementing the requirements of the OSPAR Commission.
The Labour Party's spokesman on nuclear safety, Mr Emmet Stagg, said the news was "a significant development but insufficient in itself in contrast to the ultimate goal of shutting Sellafield".
He said the Taoiseach must use every opportunity during the Irish presidency of the EU to press the British prime minister on the closure of the plant.
BNFL described the new process, which has been fully approved for use at Sellafield, as "ground breaking".
It involves the introduction of the chemical substance tetraphenylphosphonium bromide (TPP) into the process where Sellafield treats MAC, a liquid by-product of Magnox fuel. Effectively, the treatment will allow waste to be stored in solid rather than in liquid form.