Sellafield notin DoE remit

THE Department of the Environment (DoE) monitors radioactivity at 50 sites across Northern Ireland including in Londonderry but doesn’t ask its counterpart in Britain about accidents at Sellafield because nuclear energy is an ‘excepted matter.’
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Mar 2013, 16:05 BST

Environment Minister Alex Attwood said the Sellafield Nuclear Processing Plant in Cumbria fell outside his remit

He was asked by West Tyrone MLA Barry McElduff if he had lobbied the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) regarding “accidents which have occurred at the Sellafield Nuclear Processing Plant in the last four years.”

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Mr Attwood replied: “At present nuclear energy and nuclear installations are excepted matters under the Northern Ireland Act 1998, and, as such, are not within my Department’s remit.”

However, he said monitoring had not revealed any serious levels of contamination as a result of nuclear plants in Britain. He also said the DoE monitors the Londonderry coastline for radiation.

“The monitoring programme includes checks on radiation levels on the coastline at approximately 50 locations around Northern Ireland, as well as routine checks on the levels of radioactivity in seaweed, shellfish and fish,” he stated.

Related topics:Northern IrelandBritain