Moorside/Sellafield New Build Nuclear Engagement

I have received a response to a query I forwarded to DEFA (MInister Mr G Boot MHK) last month concerning the element of engagement his Department has had with the United Kingdom over the new build nuclear power station at Moorside adjacent to the Sellafield site. I forwarded a similar query to the Irish government at the same time (link):

https://www.facebook.com/crowndependencypoliticalnews/posts/186025292399...

I had highlighted specifically concerns that the proposed new build would infringe on the current Sellafield emergency zone. As can be ascertained by viewing any aerial photograph of the complex it is already probably the greatest global concentration of nuclear facilities on the planet.

The reply from Dr John McKenna Senior Scientist at the Isle of Man Government Laboratory (DEFA) is very comprehensive running to to five pages. It set out in detail both the interaction with the UK over Moorside plans (yet to come to fruition) and indeed Sellafield - for almost a decade.

It is most reassuring that the Isle of Man government is fully committed to the discussion process and interacting on this issue. There is often a perception on the Island that the ‘Isle of Man can have little influence over such matters’. However the UK since the demise of the former BNFL company has been committed to working with ‘stakeholders’ including surrounding governments in the Isle of Man and Ireland. The IAEA also play an important role in relation to UK nuclear safety.

The question of possible new build nuclear at sites around the Irish Sea (Anglesey, Heysham and Sellafield are currently in the frame) is a disturbing prospect not least in the post Fukushima environment,

As indicated I welcome the DEFA response and thank Dr McKenna for this - if I have any criticism it is that the IOM government could do more to publicise its engagement and that in addition to interaction of technical staff Ministerial engagement with the UK was not more publicly proactive.

Because of the size and scope of the response I am not reproducing it here and to extrapolate sections of my own choosing would be unhelpful. I will however be forwarding Dr Mckenna's response to my colleagues in Mec Vannin and the Celtic League Mannin and as the interact with other Island environmental bodies I feel sure they will be happy to share it.

Bernard Moffatt