foeenery%gn@cdp.uucp (10/08/89)
/* Written 1:51 pm Oct 6, 1989 by gn:foeenergy in cdp:foe.press */ /* ---------- "Sellafield contamination on Esk" ---------- */ Embargo: 00.01 Hours Monday, 9 October, 1989 Radioactive Hot spot along cumbrian river - Contamination from sellafield up to 13 times the Limit A report published today by Friends of the Earth's (FoE) Radiation Monitoring Unit [1], contains the results of a survey of radioactive contamination along the River Esk, near Sellafield in Cumbria. The report shows that banks of the four mile tidal stretch of the River Esk and adjacent low lying land are extensively contaminated with many different radionuclides including Ruthenium, Caesium, Americium and Plutonium [2]. The source of this contamination is the reprocessing plant at British Nuclear Fuels (BNF) Sellafield. In places radioactive contamination is up to 13 times the National Radiological Protection Board's (NRPB) recommended limits for environmental contamination and up to 50 times the level at which the NRPB recommend that public exposure to radiation should be investigated [3]. These findings are released at a time when radioactive contamination from Sellafield, above the NRPB's recommended limits, has also been recently found along the North Wales [4] and South West Scotland [5] coastlines. The report highlights the inadequacy of the official monitoring programme and criticises the failure of the Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) to alert the public to the presence of the contamination [6]. Friends of the Earth makes a number of recommendations to Mr John Selwyn Gummer, the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. These include: | That MAFF be instructed to urgently undertake a detailed radiological assessment of public exposure in the area and publish the results. | The Minister should explain his failure to inform the public on the extent of the contamination. | MAFF should commission an aerial survey [7] along the entire coast of Cumbria to identify other areas where Sellafield discharges have resulted in extensive contamination. These results should be published. | Considering that contamination levels will continue to build up in the area as a result of plant discharges, all discharges from BNF Sellafield should be stopped immediately. Patrick Green, FoE's Radiation Consultant said today: "Our results are clearly not localised hot spots. Three recent, separate and independent findings of contamination in estuaries of England, Scotland and Wales over the limits is extremely worrying. One is entitled to ask whether similar hot spots remain undiscovered. Quite clearly the official monitoring agencies have failed to alert the public to these areas of contamination. This lack of action is totally unacceptable. These results demand urgent investigation as the public could be at risk" CONTACTS Paul Watts 01-490 0224 (work) Co-ord Radiation Monitoring Unit 01-267 9994 (home) Patrick Green Radiation Consultant 01-328 3837 (home) NOTES TO EDITORS [1] Unacceptable Levels: A Report by the Friends of the Earth's Radiation Monitoring Unit of the Sellafield Contamination of the River Esk, Cumbria, UK, Watts, P. & Green, P., FoE September 1989. 3-50. [2] The estuary of the River Esk is situated five miles south of the Sellafield reprocessing plant. Radiation levels found on the banks of the Esk and on the low-lying land appear to be independent of distance upriver but as a function of flooding. Suspended radioactive particles in the water are deposited on land every time there is a particularly high tide or storm. [3] In order to put the radiation contamination levels into perspective, they can be compared with the general limits recommended by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) for environmental material. These Generalised Derived Limits (GDLs) are based upon "deliberately cautious assumptions", which can be used to assess the significance of low-level environmental contamination. The GDLs are based upon the dose limit of 1 mSv per year (note: the NRPB now recommend a lower dose limit of 0.5 mSv). Where environmental contamination exceeds a GDL it does not mean that the public dose limit has been exceeded - for this to be determined an investigation of local habits would need to be undertaken. However, it does mean that an investigation of public radiation exposure is warranted, as the dose limit may be exceeded. At 25% of the GDL, the NRPB recommend that a detailed investigation should be made of . the critical group exposure. In places this investigation level was exceeded by a factor of 50. [4] Aerial Radiometric Survey of Parts of North Wales in July 1989, Sanderson, East & Scott (SURRC). An aerial survey, commissioned by HTV Wales and conducted by the Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre (SURRC) this summer discovered Sellafield-derived contamination on land in the Conway Valley and near Llanfairfechan. Caesium contamination above the GDL and Americium contamination approaching the investigation level were detected. The gamma radiation dose rates in these locations are 5-10 times the natural gamma background. [5] An Assessment of Artificial Radionuclide Transfer from Sellafield to South West Scotland: Scottish Universities Research and Reactor Centre (SURRC) Report. (Ref: DoE/RW/89/127). In July, research commissioned by the Department of the Environment on behalf of the Scottish Office showed that radiation contamination from Sellafield was detected along the banks of the Rivers Urr, Nith and Cree off the Solway Firth. Sellafield contamination was detected up to 17.5 km upriver. In a number of places the Caesium levels exceeded the NRPB's Generalised Derived Limits (GDLs) and in these places Americium and Plutonium levels were close to, or exceeded the investigation level. The authors of the report, SURRC, stated that the contamination implied "the need to review critical group doses". [6] British Nuclear Fuels (BNF), as part of its authorisation, carries out a statutory programme of environmental monitoring. The results are published annually. The Ministry of Agriculture Fisheries and Food (MAFF) carries out a similar monitoring programme set up to verify the satisfactory control of liquid radioactive waste discharges to the aquatic environment, and to ensure that the resulting public radiation exposure is within the nationally accepted limits. Friends of the Earth released the preliminary results in February of this year because the contamination was at such a level to justify immediate publication and because neither MAFF or BNF refer to the contamination in their annual monitoring reports. [7] An aerial survey is a method whereby radiation is detected with highly sensitive radiation detectors operated from low flying aircraft. Although this method is still under development, it is a rapid and effective method of locating problem areas. --- Patt Haring | United Nations | Did u read patth@sci.ccny.cuny.edu | Information | misc.headlines.unitex patth@ccnysci.BITNET | Transfer Exchange | today? -=- Every child smiles in the same language. -=-