8 November 2001 Edition
Fresh court challenge to MOX plutonium plant
The British government is being taken to the High Court in London on Thursday 8 November to prevent the controversial new Sellafield plutonium plant from being opened.
The joint legal challenge by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth means a High Court Judge will judicially review the Government's recent decision to allow state-owned British Nuclear Fuels to give the go-ahead for the mixed oxide or MOX plant at Sellafield. BNFL is expected to switch on the plant later this month.
The MOX plant, completed in 1996, was intended to turn 'spent' plutonium and uranium into usable fuel. However, following financial concerns, and in the wake of the MOX data falsification scandal by BNFL workers, the commercial go-ahead for the plant was withheld. Under EU law, the Government must be able to show - amongst other things - that the economic benefits of the plant outweigh the health and environmental detriments.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace say that the government's decision is unlawful because:
the economic 'benefits' of the scheme have been distorted as the £472 million of taxpayers' money spent so far, mostly on constructing the plant, have been disregarded;
there is insufficient evidence that potential customers, such as the Japanese, will materialise.
The groups also believe that the government's decision is dangerously irresponsible from a security point of view.
The joint legal challenge by Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth means a High Court Judge will judicially review the Government's recent decision to allow state-owned British Nuclear Fuels to give the go-ahead for the mixed oxide or MOX plant at Sellafield. BNFL is expected to switch on the plant later this month.
The MOX plant, completed in 1996, was intended to turn 'spent' plutonium and uranium into usable fuel. However, following financial concerns, and in the wake of the MOX data falsification scandal by BNFL workers, the commercial go-ahead for the plant was withheld. Under EU law, the Government must be able to show - amongst other things - that the economic benefits of the plant outweigh the health and environmental detriments.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace say that the government's decision is unlawful because:
the economic 'benefits' of the scheme have been distorted as the £472 million of taxpayers' money spent so far, mostly on constructing the plant, have been disregarded;
there is insufficient evidence that potential customers, such as the Japanese, will materialise.
The groups also believe that the government's decision is dangerously irresponsible from a security point of view.