Dan Neville (Limerick West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 87: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the way in which radioactive waste is disposed of here; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16442/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Ireland's radioactive waste is generally low level and low volume, and derives in the main from hospital and certain industrial applications. It falls into two categories, unsealed sources, which are usually in liquid form, and sealed sources, which are enclosed in containers. Unsealed sources have a very short radioactive half-life. This type of waste is from hospitals and is normally discharged through public drainage systems and does not result in any residual contamination. Other unsealed radioactive solid waste is retained in designated storage under the terms of the licence granted by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII. Sealed radioactive sources are used in hospitals for radiotherapy, for example, and for various purposes in industry and education. Sealed sources are normally sent back to the manufacturer as part of the contract governing their purchase and importation in the first place, while waste that cannot be returned is also currently stored in hospitals and on industrial premises under licence from the RPII. The RPII inspects such premises regularly.

The RPII annual reports provide details of its licensing and enforcement functions, and the institute has for some time been addressing the establishment of a national repository for radioactive waste. This would be consistent with best international practice and our obligations under the International Atomic Energy Agency Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. While this option is to be preferred to storage on the premises of some 60 licensees, it does not entail that radioactive waste is being stored unsafely. Nor has the RPII identified any capacity problem in hospitals or industrial premises as regards storage.

A full specification for a national storage facility, having regard to the range of appropriate considerations involved, is under development in consultation between my Department and the RPII. No decisions have been taken in this regard as yet, and any proposal will be subject to extensive evaluation and normal planning procedures. It is my intention to move forward on this issue in an orderly manner in the interests of optimum safety at national level and the fullest adherence to existing and emerging international obligations.