BRITAIN’S TEN nuclear plants, including Sellafield, are to undergo a series of EU stress tests.

The tests – which were announced yesterday as a response to the Fukushima crisis in Japan – are designed to see if they could survive forest fires, transport accidents, loss of electrical power supplies and withstand human error. However, the stations will not be tested for their ability to survive a terror attack.

Europe is divided on the question of whether or not the Fukushima crisis has undermined the viability of nuclear power as an energy source.

Germany and Italy have stepped back from plans to build new plants – with Germany going so far as to suspend its oldest seven plants. Earlier this week Switzerland announced it was withdrawing completely from nuclear.

A spokesperson for the Department of the Environment told TheJournal.ie yesterday that: “Ireland will be engaging constructively in the rigorous application” of the stress tests and pushing for any follow-ups required after the findings have been published.

“Our concern is to ensure that the highest levels of nuclear safety are in place,” he added.

However, Greenpeace has already slammed the safety checks on the grounds that they’re not independent.

Would stress-testing reassure you about the safety of the Sellafield nuclear plant?

Read: EU’s 143 nuclear power stations to undergo stress testing >