Increase in radioactive discharges into Irish Sea from Sellafield

RADIOACTIVE discharges from Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant increased between 2000 and 2001, new figures reveal.

Waste from the British Nuclear Fuels’ plant continues to be the dominant source of artificial radioactivity in the Irish Sea, according to a study from the Irish radiation watchdog. “The most significant source of radioactive contamination in the Irish Sea is the discharge of low-level liquid waste from BNFL’s nuclear processing plant at Sellafield,” said the report by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland.

The Irish Sea is also being contaminated by the disruption of large deposits of radioactive material dumped during the 1970s and 1980s.

The report said seafood consumption was the main way the public was being exposed to radiation from Sellafield.

But the dose of the waste was not large enough to pose a significant health threat.

“These doses are very small and represent less than 1% of the annual average radiation dose received by members of the public from all sources of radiation,” said Dr Tony Colgan, the institute’s principal scientific officer.

“Consequently, they do not constitute a significant health risk. It continues to be safe to eat seafood from the Irish Sea and to use the marine environment for both leisure-based and commercial purposes.”

The report said the principal nuclide that emits radiation from Sellafield was Caesium-137, accounting for 60-70% of total radiation.

Discharge levels have dropped dramatically since the 1980s and stabilised in the 1990s. However, levels increased slightly between 2000 and 2001.

The report said that along the Irish coastline, the highest activity concentrations observed were in the north-east. The other main contributor to radiation was technetium-99, discharges of which “increased significantly” since 1994.

Meanwhile, Ireland is due to hear in the coming weeks the decision of an international court regarding the Government’s request for full information on the British nuclear industry, particularly Sellafield.

If the Court of Arbitration finds in favour of the Government, they will then be able to go the European Courts to demand access to the information. Commenting on the report, Environment Minister Martin Cullen: “this is further evidence that reprocessing at Sellafield is a dirty business.

“We will not let up in our efforts to close the plant.

“ We are awaiting the findings of the Irish Government’s legal case under the UN OSPAR convention.

“Next month, we will bring another legal case to the European Court of Arbitration under the Law of the Sea.

“The Government is and will continue to exhaust every diplomatic and political channel is to see an end to activities at Sellafield,” the environment minister added.