Jimmy Deenihan (Kerry North, Fine Gael)
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Question 189: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government if he has made representations in relation to the danger posed by building B30 at Sellafield; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30419/05]

Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)
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The B30 building at Sellafield is a fuel storage pond for spent magnox fuel and has been in use since the 1950s. Although the European Commission have been inspecting this plant regularly since the 1980s, both the physical condition of the plant and the high radioactivity in the area have made it impossible for the Commission to accurately verify the quantities of material held in the facility.

Under the safeguards provisions of EURATOM, the Commission has the right to inspect facilities where nuclear fuel cycle material is stored, as well as the records for such facilities, to verify that the material has not been diverted to non-peaceful uses.

In March 2003, the Commission adopted a directive under Article 82 of the EURATOM Treaty concerning the storage of spent fuel at Sellafield that compelled the United Kingdom to take steps to allow Commission inspectors to verify accurately the amount of plutonium stored in the pond. The UK subsequently responded in detail to the Commission and I understand the issue between the UK and the Commission on B30 is ongoing. I have written to the European Commissioner for Energy, Mr. Andris Piebalgs, and inter alia reiterated that the B30 storage pond represents a very substantial ongoing environmental and public health risk.

The UK Ambassador to Ireland has advised my Department that his Government will ensure that remediation works at B30 will be guided first and foremost by safety and environment-related considerations. While this is reassuring, my Department will continue to monitor developments in relation to developments at B30 and other facilities at Sellafield to ensure the concerns and interests of Ireland are protected. Indeed, during my meeting with Mr. Alan Johnson MP, UK Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry in London last week, I again outlined the Government's concerns in this regard.