Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for assigning his remaining time to me. The issue of Sellafield unites this House like no other. Our common stance is crystal clear. Sellafield is an unacceptable threat which should be closed forthwith in a safe and orderly manner. We have pressed this policy through every diplomatic, political and, where necessary, legal route available and will continue to do so.

ln advancing this policy, we reflect the overwhelming views of the Irish people. Indeed, our proximity to Sellafield has helped shape a strong and consistent anti-nuclear policy within successive Governments. I want to make it clear to the House that this State will not be forced to go nuclear. Recent reports do nothing to alter our stance. The basis of our policy is stronger than ever and the reasons behind this policy are worth reaffirming.

Windscale, Three Mile Island and Chernobyl remain powerful testimony of the destructive potential of nuclear power. Likewise, Sellafield remains a real and present danger to life on this island. The point not often advanced by the nuclear lobby today is that the proven reserve uranium fuel stock in the world today will last for only 50 years, which is approximately the same order of time as for proven oil reserves. In the event of more countries opting for nuclear power, these supplies will diminish faster. Nuclear power is not the unlimited energy supply its supporters claim it is and is simply not economically competitive compared to gas-fired generation. This fact is increasingly clear when one builds in the cost of long-term storage and plant decommissioning. Capital, operational and maintenance costs of nuclear plants are three times that of a conventional plant. Under its current configuration, our electricity supply system is not suitable for nuclear power. Typical nuclear plants, which supply over a gigawatt of electricity, are too large for the Irish system. Even the smallest modern generation III nuclear plant would destabilise the system by delivering too much inflexible base load.

Our opposition to Sellafield and to nuclear power in Ireland has clear and logical foundations. This opposition to nuclear power is shared on both sides of the Border. At the recent meeting of the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London, I stressed our opposition to the construction of any new nuclear plants in the North. This point has been publicly acknowledged by my colleague, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Mr. Peter Hain, MP, who recently stated that:

There will be no support in the island of Ireland for building a nuclear power station, the Irish government set its face implacably against that and I don't think there would be any support in the North.

Therefore, the anti-nuclear policy of this House, the Government and the Irish people is clear and steadfast. There is no question of developing a nuclear plant in Ireland. Indeed, the "use of nuclear fission for the generation of electricity" is banned here, under the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 and will remain banned.

Some politicians have mischievously asserted that the absence of a specific anti-nuclear provision in the Strategic Infrastructure Bill signals a pro-nuclear shift in Government policy. This is not true. Nuclear power is already banned so there is no need to re-ban it.

In the same fashion, child labour and the death penalty are banned and are, therefore, not re-banned in every labour law or criminal justice Bill that comes before the House. This level of point-scoring exemplifies the need for a grown-up discussion on this issue. We are all clearly united behind the anti-nuclear policy of successive Governments, including this Government.

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