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British, Irish scientists to meet on Sellafield

LONDON: British and Irish nuclear watchdogs will meet next week to discuss Britain's troubled Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, Irish Energy Minister, Joe Jacob said on Saturday.

The meeting comes hard on the heels of a damning report which raised safety concerns at the British plant.

Britain's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) said plant owner BNFL had faked data on nuclear fuel sent to Japan and identified a "systematic management failure" at the state-owned company.

The British government has called for an urgent management shake up at Sellafield.

Ireland responding on Friday by calling for the temporary closure of the plant in northwest England.

Jacob said on Saturday he wanted to emphasise the "depth of concern" in Ireland about the risk of an incident at a nuclear plant located only a short distance across the Irish Sea from his country.

He said members of the NII would meet the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland next week.

Jacob said he had written to Britain's energy minister, Helen Liddell, asking her to consider temporarily closing Sellafield.

"I have asked that the UK should consider very, very carefully suspending the reprocessing and associated operations at Sellafield," he told BBC radio.

"I would like to see it done forthwith, at least until the changes that are necessary new management systems that would inspire confidence in the safety culture."-Reuters