Vol. 482 No. 6
20 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if her attention has been drawn to recently published data that indicates that the levels of the radionuclide, technetiom-99, in seaweed in the Irish Sea doubled in the first three months of 1997; if she has contacted her British counterpart regarding this issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18967/97]
I am aware from monitoring programmes carried out by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland of significant annual increases since 1994 in concentrations of technetium-99 in seaweed sampled along the north-east Irish coastline. While the RPII monitoring programmes do not show doubling of this radionuclide in seaweed sampled along the Irish coastline in the first quarter of 1997, they do show that concentrations in Irish seaweeds have increased significantly as a result of increased discharges from Sellafield.
The RPII points out that the concentrations found in seaweed are many times higher than those observed in fish. technetium-99 has been measured by the RPII in a range of fish and shellfish samples taken between 1996 and 1997. These measurements show that the dose to seafood consumers does not give rise to concern. Such findings, however, do not in any way affect this Government's continued opposition to any radioactive contamination of the Irish Sea caused by Sellafield. The annual dose to typical and heavy seafood consumers from technetium-99 for 1996 was estimated at 0.07 and 0.3 microsieverts respectively. To put this into perspective, one can compare it with a dose of 3,000 microsieverts from all sources of radioactivity.
