Sellafield

Siting of a nuclear power plant at Sellafield poses an unacceptable risk to the inhabitants of Co. Louth. Dundalk is the nearest Irish town to the proposed Cumbria sites and residents have previously claimed people in the area had higher instances of cancer than other regions following the devastating fire at the Windscale nuclear reactor in Cumbria — now known as Sellafield — in 1957. Apart from this the risk of major disaster will be ever present.

Representations to Downing street have fallen on deaf ears. One can only assume that our concerns are of less importance than concerns for its own zero emissions energy requirements. This coupled with the fact that as a relatively small economy, who have voiced very strong objections in the past with little effect, leads one to conclude that future protests will also be fruitless, as there is no pressing reason for the UK to give our concerns much weight.

Spread of nuclear waste from Sellafield Oct 6th, 2008

We need to be realistic and seek an alliance with Ulster Unionists who have a strong alliance with the British Conservative party, the next likely government of the UK, and obtain a Conservative party election pledge that no new nuclear power station be stationed at Sellafield either now nor in the future.

If western governments are intent on building nuclear reactors, they should consider constructing them in desolete regions far from humanity.