Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to raise the recently announced public consultation on the British Government's plan to develop a new reactor at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station in Somerset, England. Like my colleagues in the Civil Engagement group, I came to the Seanad from the world of activism. In my case it was ten years on Greenpeace ships combatting nuclear weapons and nuclear waste in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. At that time nuclear power was an incredibly expensive and centralised way of producing power and it was marred by waste disposal and nuclear material proliferation issues. Sadly, all these concerns remain and the plans for the new reactor at Hinkley Point make a lie of the small government image of the Tory Party in the UK. Nuclear power is incredibly expensive, difficult to secure and still has all the attendant waste disposal issues of the past. In fact, it is such an expensive way to make power that one must wonder if the UK Government has other reasons for pushing such projects, such as providing new materials for weapons that should be confined to the dustbin of history. However, that is a discussion for another time.

My primary concern in raising the issue today is the news that local authorities will be opening public consultation on our reaction to the plans for the new plant, one that is only 500 km from our capital city and which would impact on our entire economy and society in the case of a serious incident. What particularly disturbs me is that recent legal challenges to the plan with regard to its compliance with the Espoo Convention succeeded not because of the intervention or activity of the Irish Government but because of complaints lodged by Norwegian and Dutch citizens. Now, it will be up to Irish citizens to step up to the plate and have their concerns heard, without any signal of support from the Irish Government. Irish Governments, both Fianna Fáil led and Fine Gael led, used to have a proud record of vocal opposition to the dangers posed by Sellafield and other UK nuclear facilities in the 1980s and 1990s. That led to significant improvements in the operation of those facilities, but now we appear to have lost our voice. Will the Leader explain why that is the case? Will the Irish Government put forward a submission in this regard? With the UK about to leave the EU it has indicated that it is also leaving the EURATOM Treaty, its last link to a common approach on information and safety with regard to nuclear power. We will have to find our voice again on this issue sooner or later, and I believe the time is now.