Policy Position on Nuclear and Sellafield

Nuclear energy is a threat. Sellafield is a threat. Talk of meeting Ireland's energy needs with nuclear energy is a threat. There is no long-term, safe solution to the storage or disposal of radioactive waste. Nuclear energy, therefore, represents the antithesis of sustainability.

The pro-nuclear industry lobby is using global climate change as justification for including nuclear power in the energy "mix" on the basis of nuclear's low-to-zero greenhouse gas emissions.

Climate change is the most salient threat to all social and ecological systems on Earth. But there already exists a wealth of clean renewable energy resources and technologies — solar, wind, wave, small-scale hydro, biomass — which, in conjunction with energy conservation measures and wise use, could provide for all our future energy needs if prevailing political policy directed private and public investment into renewables.

Nuclear is not the solution to the global climate change problem. Nor is it a solution to Ireland's current energy dependency on oil, gas, coal and peat/turf. Nuclear is an outdated, potentially deadly, medium-term technological fix to a political and economic issue: the failure of governments to adopt a multi-generational strategic approach to renewable energy.

Furthermore, the proliferation of nuclear energy is intrinsically linked to the proliferation of nuclear weapons grade materials.

Why should our childrens' children suffer the inevitable consequences of radioactive contamination from accumulations of nuclear waste, let alone accidents, just because it is easier for today's middle-aged politicians, businessmen and investors (who will be long-gone by the time their decisions matter most) to choose a quick nuclear fix?

Marine Work Group Ireland is TOTALLY OPPOSED to the use of nuclear energy in Ireland, the UK and elsewhere, and supports all peaceful, political efforts to force the UK to face this reality, and to act responsibly and abandon its nuclear energy and nuclear weapons programmes.

Marine Work Group Ireland calls on the Irish Government to protect Irish citizens and the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic by increasing the pressure on the UK government to close the BNFL Sellafield nuclear plant, and by opposing all proposed new-build nuclear power stations, especially on the west coast of England, Wales and Scotland.

Any future proposal by the UK to build a nuclear facility in Northern Ireland should be treated by the Irish Government as a hostile act against the entire people of Ireland.

Although the present Government's opposition to the UK nuclear programme is admirable: policies and governments change. We are aware of the constant chipping away at government policy by the faceless developers, corporate executives, and highly paid lobbyists of the pro-nuclear lobby, who wish to see a nuclear power station built on Irish soil. We hear the PR campaigns aimed at softening public opposition to nuclear energy by hinting that the rising price of oil and gas make a nuclear future inevitable.

Marine Work Group Ireland wants a "nuclear free Ireland" guaranteed and, therefore, calls on the Irish Government to hold a referendum on amending the Constitution by inserting a clause preventing any future government from even considering nuclear energy.