British government in international court over plutonium plant

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The UK Government will appear in an international arbitration court from today (Tuesday 10th June) charged with violating the United Nations Law of the Sea over its decision to open Sellafield's controversial plutonium fuel facility or 'MOX Plant'.

The case is being brought by the Government of Ireland and will be heard over the next three weeks at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, The Netherlands. Ireland is opposed to the operation of the MOX plant on the grounds that it pollutes the Irish Sea and that it increases the risk of nuclear terrorism and serious accident. According to the Irish government, the United Kingdom has also breached its international obligations to co-operate with Ireland and failed to protect the marine environment and to reduce and eliminate radioactive discharges from the Sellafield site (2). Greenpeace believes Ireland's legal argument at the Permanent Court of Arbitration is a strong one.

Greenpeace nuclear campaigner Jean McSorley said,
"This facility handles thousands of bombs worth of nuclear material, which will be shipped across the planet. This only serves to highlight Tony Blair's flawed policies on security and the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. Ireland is to be congratulated for bringing this case. Let's hope the result leads to an early closure of this plant."

Greenpeace international lawyer Duncan Currie said,
"This is a landmark case in holding large nuclear powers to account under international law. Already the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea has emphasised the obligation to co-operate under international law, and small states at risk of pollution from nuclear activities will be watching this case very closely."

In 2001, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth UK legally challenged the UK Government's approval of the controversial Sellafield plutonium fuel MOX Plant (SMP) on the grounds that its environmental risk outweighed any economic benefits, and therefore authorisation was not justified under European law. The UK argued that BNFL would secure business with its largest potential clients in Japan, and that the cost of the plant, £70 million, could be written off - at taxpayers expense (3). The High Court in London accepted the UK Government's arguments and ruled against Greenpeace. Since then BNFL has failed to secure any contracts with Japan and has become insolvent (4).

The UK Government will come under further attack later this month at the Ministerial meeting of the OSPAR Convention (5), where Ireland, Norway and others will criticise it for failing to end radioactive marine pollution as required by international agreement.

For further information Greenpeace Press Office 0207 865 8255

Notes to Editors:

Greenpeace briefing 'Irish Government versus UK Government: Sellafield MOX Plant, Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague, 10th - 27th June 2003' available from the Greenpeace International website as a PDF document.
(1) The UK Government approved the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) in 2001 against an international outcry.
(2) Ireland claims that the UK Government has violated a number of articles of the UNCLOS. Articles 192 and 193 and/or Article 194 and/or Article 207 and/or Articles 211 and 213 of UNCLOS in relation to the authorisation of the MOX plant, including by failing to take the necessary measures to prevent, reduce and control pollution of the marine environment of the Irish Sea; failing to properly or at all to assess the risk of terrorist attack on the MOX plant and international movements of radioactive material associated with the plant; and the United Kingdom has breached its obligations under Articles 123 and 197 of UNCLOS in relation to the authorisation of the MOX plant, and has failed to co-operate with Ireland in the protection of the marine environment of the Irish Sea inter alia by refusing to share information with Ireland and/or refusing to carry out a proper environmental assessment of the impacts on the marine environment of the MOX plant and associated activities and/or proceeding to authorise the operation of the MOX plant whilst proceedings relating to the settlement of a dispute on access to information were still pending.
(3) In particular the UK Government commissioned the report, "Assessment of BNFL's Business Case for the Sellafield MOX Plant," from consultants Arthur D Little. The report was released in July 2001 but vital financial and other data about the prospects for the plant were censored and not released publicly, to the UK High Court or the Government of Ireland. ADL did not consider the possibility that BNFL may fail to win business in Japan, even though future Japanese contracts even then were highly uncertain.
(4) In addition to the failure to secure business with Japan, BNFL has suffered further problems with its clients. BNFL originally stated that they would produce the first MOX from SMP by the end of 2002, to be delivered to Swiss client NOK that operates the Beznau reactor shortly thereafter. Since when BNFL have admitted that they were unable to meet the schedule and that the four nuclear fuel assemblies of MOX would be completed during 2003/4 and transported by May 2004. Greenpeace for the past four years has investigated problems of BNFL MOX fuel technology, charging that the technology is fundamentally flawed and unable to produce reliable high quality MOX fuel. This has major implications for any nuclear reactor that would use the MOX increasing the risk of catastrophic nuclear accident. These problems are understood to be one of the principle reasons BNFL has been unable to meet its production schedule, and why Japanese utilities are unwilling to sign contracts for MOX with SMP.
5) The OSPAR Convention is the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North East Atlantic.