Vol. 517 No. 1
70 Mr. Bell asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the proposals, if any, she has to review procedures for the monitoring of levels of radioactive contamination in the Irish Sea following the disclosure that safety records at the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant have been falsified; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8187/00]
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, RPII, regularly reviews, as a matter of routine, its programme for monitoring the levels of radioactive contamination in the Irish Sea. These reviews take place annually or more frequently if the circumstances warrant it. I have no reason to question the comprehensiveness of the RPII's current monitoring programme.
In any event, the institute has advised me that the falsification of safety records at Sellafield has no relationship to discharges from the plant into the Irish Sea. Accordingly, the institute does not consider that it necessitates any change to its existing monitoring programme. The institute's existing monitoring programme would detect any increased activity in the marine environment.
