Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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56. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the actions he is taking to ensure, in the event of a nuclear accident related to the generation and storage of nuclear power in the UK, the safety of the public in view of the proposed exit of the UK from the Euratom Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13943/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Ireland has a detailed National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents (NEPNA), the central purpose of which is to minimise the impact on Ireland and its people in the event of a major nuclear accident abroad, including in the UK. The Plan, which is currently under revision, can be viewed at . 

Naturally, Ireland takes a particular interest in nuclear matters in the UK, as our nearest neighbouring nuclear State. In 2012, a report in the form of a Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), on the risks to Ireland from  the site at Sellafield, was completed. The PRA was a very comprehensive and detailed scientific exercise which established that there was no threat to the health of people in Ireland arising from activity at the Sellafield site.  A summary of the PRA conclusions is available at the following link: .

Following the PRA on Sellafield, in May 2013, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII), which has since merged with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), published an assessment of the potential radiological impacts on Ireland from the proposed programme of new nuclear power plants in the UK. This assessment considered both routine operations and a range of postulated accident scenarios at the plants. The report concluded that the routine operation of the proposed nuclear power plants will have no measurable radiological impact on Ireland or the Irish marine environment. This report is available at:

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The decision of the UK Government to withdraw from the Euratom Treaty was confirmed on 26 January, 2017 on the publication of the Bill seeking Parliamentary approval to issue notification of the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

Ireland has a close working relationship with the UK on radiological issues and will engage, as appropriate, with the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation, through the UK-Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters. A regular bi-annual meeting of this group is scheduled for late April, where the matter will be discussed and further meetings will be arranged as appropriate. Information on UK emergencies will continue to be available to Ireland after the UK withdraw from the Euratom Treaty through bilateral arrangements.  The UK is currently part of the EU's early notification and information exchange system ECURIE, which also includes, on a voluntary basis,  a number of EU neighbouring States. While it is possible that the UK could withdraw from this system, a parallel system is operated by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of which the UK is also a member. 

There are currently no foreseen safety or security concerns for Ireland arising from the UK withdrawal from the Euratom Treaty. In the first instance, the UK remains a member of Euratom, and the UK nuclear industry remains subject to oversight by the EU institutions, until such time as their withdrawal from the EU is finalised, a process expected to take at least two years following notification.  As such the UK will transpose Euratom's revised Nuclear Safety Directive this year. The amended Directive requires EU countries to give the highest priority to nuclear safety at all stages of the lifecycle of a nuclear power plant.  It aims to improve the existing regulatory framework for the safety of nuclear installations following lessons learned from the Fukishima accident in Japan.  In addition, the UK is a signatory of the IAEA's International Convention on Nuclear Safety and applies the strict international standards on safety and security set down in the Convention. This should continue to be the case after the UK withdraw from the Euratom Treaty.