asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he is aware of a recent report from Birmingham University indicating that the discharge of atomic waste from the Windscale nuclear plant into the Irish Sea is increasing the risk of cancer among people who consume fish caught in the area and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Atomic Waste Disposal.
28.
): Yes, I am aware of the recent report issued by Professor J.H. Fremlin of Birmingham University which considered, among other risks, the risks of the occurrence of cancer in persons consuming fish caught in the area of the Irish Sea adjacent to Windscale in Cumbria. He concluded that some three to ten people mostly in Britain may die of cancer in the next 20-30 years. The report adds that "this assumption is probably pessimistic as our understanding of cancer is increasing rapidly".
Contamination of fish results from the discharge of liquid low level radioactive effluents from the Windscale Works and is most noticeable in the vicinity of Windscale. It has been estimated that a small number of people eating the fish caught in the area of Windscale might receive a radiation exposure of about 30 per cent of the dose limit established by the International Commission for Radiological Protection for members of the public and adopted in the EEC Directive on the health protection of members of the public and workers against ionizing radiation and in corresponding UK regulations. All discharges of effluents are subject to authorisation by the UK authorities.
It has been estimated that it is unlikely that anyone in Ireland could receive a radiation exposure in excess of 1 per cent of the internationally recommended dose limits. In addition the Nuclear Energy Board in conjunction with the Department of Fisheries undertakes a limited monitoring programme to verify that fish caught in the Irish Sea and landed in Ireland do not present a hazard to anyone in Ireland.
29.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will outline the arrangements for the discharge of nuclear waste in international waters off our shores.
The disposal of radioactive waste in international waters around Ireland is regulated and controlled by the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and other Matter, 1972 (The London Convention). It forbids the disposal of certain kinds of wastes including highly radioactive wastes and limits the disposal of others including solidified low level radioactive wastes to disposal under an authorisation issued by the competent national authorities. Conditions were laid down to control disposals. Prior to the convention disposal of solidified low level wastes was controlled by the OECE Nuclear Energy Agency.
Most countries felt that disposal of solidified low level wastes to the deep seas should be carried out under strict international surveillance. Consequently a Multilateral Consultation and Surveillance Mechanism operated by the Nuclear Energy Agency was established. It provides for the prior notification of disposal operations and for an NEA representative to accompany each disposal operation to verify that safety requirements are observed. These safety requirements and operational procedures were reviewed by international expert groups under Irish chairmanship last year and a further group again under an Irish chairman is undertaking a detailed hazard assessment of disposal. Ireland have furthermore provided an officer to act as an NEA representative on several occasions in recent years. The current disposal site is 370 miles south-west of Ireland, about 280 miles outside the Continental Shelf and it has a depth of water of some 2.8 miles. The Nuclear Energy Board have assured me that the disposal of solidified low level wastes to the deep seas of the Atlantic Ocean does not represent in any way a hazard to Ireland.