Fearing Sellafield

Sellafield is a dangerous and dirty nuclear facility. Irish people feared it even before the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Now, as terrorist strikes on nuclear power plants become a real possibility, the government of Ireland is taking international legal action to have Sellafield closed down. But what exactly is Sellfield? And how dangerous is nuclear power in normal circumstances? And why does the Irish government believe that it may yet force the government of the United Kingdom to shut Sellafield? In this book, Colum Kenny looks at the issues involved. What is the Irish case against British Nuclear Fuels? How dirty is Sellafield and what really goes on there? Does the close relationship between the administrations of George Bush and Tony Blair make it more likely than not that Sellafield will be kept open? Who exactly regulates the nuclear industry in the United Kingdom? Why is Britain reprocessing nuclear fuel when there are no new British nuclear power plants in the pipeline? And what is to be done with the mountains of radioactive waste that have continued to accumulate to this day?
From the race for a British atomic bomb to the current battles for and against nuclear power, Kenny highlights the legacy of bad planning and strategic thinking that has made Sellafield a sore point in Anglo-Irish relations. His account is fair and concise and will be a useful reference point for all those who care about the future of the planet.