Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 60: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to increase his level of proactive engagement with the British Government to lobby for the closure of Sellafield. [11509/11]

Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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The Government continues to bring pressure to bear on the UK authorities through a number of channels to decommission and close the existing Sellafield reprocessing plant on the basis that it poses an unacceptable risk. In addition to the reprocessing activities conducted there, Sellafield is the location of a large inventory of radioactive waste which will require active management by the UK authorities for many years into the future. From Ireland's perspective, it is important that this waste inventory be managed as safely as possible and that any hazard or risk it poses be reduced as a matter of priority.

I recently took the opportunity to raise Irish concerns in relation to Sellafield with the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne, when I met him on 26 March. While I acknowledged the ongoing constructive dialogue between the Irish and UK authorities on nuclear safety issues, I re-iterated the concerns of the Irish Government in relation to Sellafield. Against the background of the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan, I emphasised the importance of the Ireland-UK Bilateral Notification Agreement for the early notification of nuclear accidents or incidents. I also expressed the view that Sellafield should be covered by the "stress testing" arrangements being developed for nuclear plants in the European Union in response to the Fukushima accident.

Secretary of State Huhne acknowledged the Irish Government's concerns and indicated his Government's continued support for the ongoing constructive engagement between Ireland and the UK on nuclear-related matters. He also confirmed that the UK will be participating in the development of the proposed 'stress test' to ensure that the robustness of the safety arrangements at nuclear facilities, including Sellafield, are challenged and improved where necessary in light of events in Japan.

The European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG), on which Ireland is represented, met on 12 May 2011 to discuss the criteria for these "stress tests". Ireland expects the "stress tests" to be designed and applied such that they will contribute to real improvements in nuclear safety at all nuclear installations in Europe.

As well as my direct engagement with the UK Secretary of State there is a proactive ongoing engagement at official and regulator level with the relevant UK authorities on matters of nuclear safety and radiological protection, including the ongoing decommissioning programme at Sellafield.