Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 5 May 1992

Vol. 419 No. 1

Written Answers. - Radioactive Discharges.

Ivor Callely

Question:

16 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Energy if he will outline the method used by his Department or any agency under the aegis of his Department or working in conjunction with his Department to measure radioactivity discharges from the Sellafield nuclear plant into the Irish Sea; if he has satisfied himself with this method of measuring discharges; if he will give details of the readings of these discharges for each of the years 1980 to 1990; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Energy (Mr. Molloy)

My Department cannot of course directly monitor the day to day operations at Sellafield. The actual quantities of radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea from Sellafield are determined by the operators of the plant. British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), by measuring the effluents before and during the discharges which must be within discharge limits authorised by the UK resulatory authorities who routinely carry out checks and inspections.

BNFL, the U.K. Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Environment publish annually the quantities of radionuclides which have been discharged in the previous year from UK nuclear establishments. In the event of unauthorised or accidental discharges taking place, there is an agreement with the UK Department of the Environment whereby we are immediately notified.

On the Irish side, environmental radioactivity monitoring is carried out by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (formerly the Nuclear Energy Board) to determine the effects of these discharges on the Irish marine environment. The effects are quantified by the institute in some detail through their analyses of fish and shellfish collected at the principal fishing ports and of seaweeds, sediments and sea water from selected locations around the Irish coastline.

The present situation is that significant reductions in radioactive effluents from Sellafield occurred during the early 1980's and since then there has been a further slow decline in contamination levels. Radiation doses to typical consumers of fish are now as low as 0.1 per cent of the International Commission for Radiological Protection annual dose limits for members of the public from controllable sources of radiation.

While the principal objective of our monitoring programme is to obtain an estimate of the radiation exposure of the Irish public, it also enables us to detect unrecorded discharges, examine trends and generally relate the quantities reported as having been discharged with the Institute's monitoring results. This information has been regularly published in the form of reports from the Nuclear Energy Board from 1982 onwards which are available to the Deputy and the new Institute will continue this work.

These reports contain a full description of the methodology used and I am fully satisfied that the effects of these discharges on the marine environment and on the Irish public are being properly measured by the Institute. I am also satisfied that the results obtained by the Institute are consistent with the discharges reported by BNFL and the UK authorities.