Dr. Ann McGarry:

I thank the Deputy for his questions. He correctly pointed out that there are two different types of risks to consider here, one being the actual health risks to individuals living in Ireland and the second being the risk to the food industry. In terms of the situation for people in this country arising from the ongoing day-to-day operations of either the existing nuclear plants or those which are planned for construction, according to our assessments, the amounts of radioactivity released into the environment are not sufficiently high to pose a health risk. I am referring here to routine operations. The situation in the case of an extremely severe accident is different. As I mentioned earlier, in one of the accident scenarios we considered in our study we found, depending on the severity of the accident and whether the plan we have in place turns out on the day to be effective in mitigating the consequences of that accident, there could be an ensuing increase in cancer rates in Ireland. In summary, our view is that there is not a health risk from day-to-day operations but, on the other hand, there would be an increase in cancer risks if things went very badly wrong.

In terms of the risk to the food industry, again I would make the distinction between what happens on a day-to-day basis, either in regard to the existing plant or the proposed new locations, and the potential consequences in the case of a serious accident. Our assessments show that routine operations do not result in measurable levels of radioactivity in food that would pose a risk to the food industry. Again, however, for most of the accident scenarios we have considered, our assessment shows there could be - would be in some cases - a risk of food contamination. In that situation, there would be a threat to the food industry. Certainly, we are not saying otherwise. In terms of the health implications for the population arising out of that, our strategy for managing food contamination would be to implement food controls. However, it would undoubtedly be a serious issue for exporters. There is no doubt about that.

The Deputy also mentioned the report by the United Kingdom's National Audit Office which indicated that there is a risk to people and the environment in Britain arising from the older tanks at the Sellafield site. In terms of the implications for Ireland, the key question to consider is how the very large amount of radioactivity at Sellafield might be released and make its way across the Irish Sea. The Deputy will recall that in the case of the Chernobyl accident, it was an explosion that released the radioactivity up into the air, and it was carried by the weather across to Ireland. In the case of the older tanks at Sellafield, it is our understanding that there is not that type of energy available to lift the radioactivity into the air and bring it across to us. While we have concerns about many issues at the Sellafield site, our assessment is that the tanks do not have a particular potential impact for Ireland other than by some unusual route, where, for example, a meteorite were to hit a tank and release radioactivity into the environment. In such a scenario, an impact for Ireland cannot be ruled out.