In October Dublin took landmark legal action against Britain at the arbitration court in The Hague under the 1992 Oslo/Paris Conventionfor the protection of the marine environment of the Northeast Atlantic.

Ireland accused Britain of withholding information on the grounds of commercial sensitivity about Sellafield's operations.

The International Court of Arbitration found that the information Dublin was seeking was not covered by the OSPAR convention.

"The tribunal... finds as a consequence, Ireland's claim -that the United Kingdom has breached its obligations under Article 9 of the OSPAR convention, by refusing ... to make available information does not arise," the court ruled.

Dublin has been fighting for decades to get the Sellafield plant closed down. The OSPAR case is one of two actions before international bodies against Britain.

In June Ireland started another case before the International Court of Arbitration as it claimed that Britain did not properly take into account its protests on granting a licence for the MOX re-treatment plant at Sellafield.

A decision is pending in that case.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration is an independent governmental organisation created in 1899 by the The Hague Convention to rule in disputes between states or states and private persons.

Ireland's concerns relate to pollution caused by the discharge of radioactive waste from the MOX (mixed plutonium and uranium oxide) treatment plant at Sellafield.

Britain is fighting the case, claiming the MOX plant does not generate any significant radioactive waste.

TERRA.WIRE