Environmentalists lose anti-Sellafield legal challenge
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace have lost their legal challenge to the British government’s controversial decision to allow a mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant to operate at Sellafield.
This ruling has been criticised by the Green Party in Ireland, which insisted that the fight to have Sellafield shut down will continue.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace had attempted to block the operation of the new plant on the grounds that the British government had not followed its own guidelines when allowing the operation to go ahead.
Under law, a plant that can damage the environment and human health can only be opened if the benefits to the British economy are proven.
Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace had argued that British Nuclear Fuels never provided this proof before the British government allowed them to open the MOX plant.
However, the presiding judge ruled that the British government made "no error in law" in granting approval.
