The MOX Plant Case (Ireland v. United Kingdom)

[Ed.’s note: This casebook excerpt is not a case with a typical rule of law and application of the law to facts. In fact, the casebook does not even discuss the outcome. Instead, it is an anecdote from a law journal detailing the exchanges leading up to the case, demonstrating the type of dispute between countries that can result in an impasse, requiring intervention by an international tribunal.] British Nuclear Fuel (BNF), owned by the United Kingdom (defendant), owned and operated a nuclear site in the United Kingdom near the Irish Sea. In the early 1990s, BNF started operating a MOX plant at the site. Mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel is a fuel made from recycled nuclear materials and is to be reused in nuclear reactors. The MOX fuel produced by BNF was mainly for export to other countries, not to be used in the United Kingdom, and was exported by way of the Irish Sea. Ireland (plaintiff) became concerned about the potential dangers of the MOX plant and expressed its concerns that the plant presented unacceptable risks to Ireland and its population. Ireland complained that, at least to Ireland’s knowledge, the shipments of radioactive materials into and out of Britain via the Irish Sea had never been subject to any type of environmental assessment. Ireland claimed that the authorization of the MOX plant violated the United Kingdom’s obligations under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. Despite years of pleas by Ireland for additional information regarding the operation of the MOX plant and its safety, the United Kingdom did not provide the requested information. In 2001 Ireland filed a request for provisional measures before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.