WICKLOW GREENS CONCERNED ABOUT TERRORIST ATTACK ON SELLAFIELD!

"The potential for such an attack must be a matter of serious concern to the Irish people, and particularly those who live on the East Coast of the country" says Green Party councillor, Deirdre de Burca."Minister Joe Jacob has clearly completely failed to grasp the seriousness of the issue".

She adds : "the Irish Government must heed our repeated calls for caution and prudence before giving the US unconditional support for military actions. It has emerged that the deadly consequences of an attack on Afghanistan have not been fully considered and that there is no emergency plan to deal with the horrible prospects of germ warfare or of a serious attack upon Sellafield".

The Wicklow Greens have rejected the Government's charge of "scare-mongering" and have pointed out that Britain is the key partner of the US's 'War on Terrorism',whatever shape that war takes. "As one of two plutonium re-processing plants in Europe, Sellafield is the most significant target in the UK, and has been mentioned as such in the media" says councillor de Burca. "Three weeks ago discussion of this issue could have been dismissed as 'far fetched' or extreme, but the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks have illustrated very clearly that it is not" she adds.

The Wicklow Greens believe that considering the magnitude of the potential results of a terrrorist attack on Sellafield for Ireland and elsewhere,for the government to fail to give this issue the fullest priority is irresponsible.The party's view has been backed up by a confidential EU report on nuclear safety last week.

The author of this report warned that anti-aircraft batteries should be built at the Sellafield nuclear processing plant as a matter of extreme urgency.The report also states that the rupturing of the plant's tanks of lethally radioactive waste would cause more carnage than any other single act of terrorism could inflict on Britain, and in turn, Ireland.

"The Sellafield tanks could spray up to two tonnes of deadly caesium-137 into the atmosphere if struck by a hijacked jumbo jet, states the report by Wise-Paris - the World Information Service on Energy" says councillor de Burca."This compares with the 50lb of caesium released during the Chernobyl reactor blast in 1986.A successful attack on Sellafield could lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and leave large areas of Britain and Ireland uninhabitable for decades" she adds.

The Wicklow Greens have responded to the claim by Sellafields's owners, British Nuclear Fuels, that their buildings were capable of surviving a plane crash by pointing out that the plants are designed to withstand collision with light aircraft or military planes, but not a commercial jet loaded with aviation fuel. " The consequences of such a terrorist act would be unthinkable"says councillor de Burca.

For further information please contact Deirdre de Burca on 086 8061450 or email deburca@wicklowgreens.org.