SDLP South Down MP, Margaret Ritchie has reiterated her call for the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria on the West coast of Britain to be fully decommissioned and closed after the latest in a long line of safety breaches at the nuclear base.

Sellafield is currently being operated at reduced manning levels following the detection of elevated levels of radioactivity. Ms Ritchie has this morning tabled Parliamentary Questions at Westminster regarding the ongoing environmental concerns of this plant for the marine life and the population on both sides of the Irish Sea.

She said: "The latest breach in safety at Sellafield clearly highlights the need for the decommissioning process at the plant to be accelerated. The level of decommissioning which has taken place at the site by the government appointed body – the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority - is some 12 years behind schedule, and this latest safety scare is a time when the nuclear authorities have failed to undertake a proper clean up at the plant, and are still pressing for further new build facilities on the site.

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"I am more convinced than ever that this site must be closed in its entirety. I have tabled a number of parliamentary questions today regarding the numerous incidents at this site and the levels of radiation detected at Sellafield. In the past number of weeks, I have also tabled questions referring to the plans from the nuclear authorities for future nuclear new build at Moorefield at the Sellafield plant.

"Levels of radioactivity are above naturally occurring rates which needs to be urgently tackled. The nuclear authority also asserts that they are below levels deemed necessary for action to be taken by the workforce on the site. Considering the ongoing indiscriminate discharges of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea over many years – the nuclear authorities need to be more vigilant in their approach to this matter, rather than displaying such a cavalier manner to safety at the plant.

"I will continue to pursue this matter with the Department for Energy and Climate Change at Westminster to ensure that the impact of such enlarged levels of radioactivity is eliminated for the benefit of people residing on this side of the Irish Sea."

(CD/JP)