Radioactivity in the environment reports published

24th November 2009

Two comprehensive reports on radioactivity in Scotland's food chain and environment were be published last week.

The annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 2008 (RIFE) report shows that in 2008 doses received by members of the public from authorised releases of radioactivity were within international dose limits.

In the UK, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Environment Agency and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency are responsible for ensuring that doses from authorised releases of radioactivity do not pose an unacceptable risk to health.

The data collected by the agencies shows that levels and concentrations of radioactivity measured in the environment in 2008 were similar to those in 2007. SEPA is responsible for the radiological monitoring that is carried out in Scotland and has a duty to ensure that no member of the public receives a dose in excess of one millisievert (1mSv) from authorised discharges. The report shows that doses received by the public in Scotland from authorised discharges of radioactivity were below the statutory limit. RIFE also reported that discharges from all of the nuclear licensed sites in Scotland were within the limits set by SEPA.

SEPA and the FSA, in conjunction with the Health Protection Agency (HPA), will also publish the results of a specific study on the potential radiation exposures from the use of seaweed in the North and West of Scotland.

The study was commissioned in response to public concern that a specific radionuclide (Tc-99) discharged from Sellafield, under authorisation from the Environment Agency, was routinely being detected in seaweed around Scotland. As seaweed had been reported as being used as a soil conditioner for growing crops and as an animal feed, there was a possibility that individuals who consume foods produced using seaweed could receive higher doses from this radionuclide in their diet. Therefore, a specific study was commissioned to examine this pathway.

The study found that potential doses from Tc-99 from using seaweed to produce foodstuffs were extremely small, much lower than the 1 mSv limit.

Mark Toner, a Senior Radioactive Substances Policy Officer for SEPA, said: "As Scotland's environment regulator, SEPA routinely monitors for the effects of Sellafield discharges for a range of radionuclides across Scotland, together with other sites that release radioactivity into the environment. SEPA's routine monitoring and assessment programme, which is reported annually in the RIFE report, assesses the doses of radionuclides received by the 'most exposed' groups of people in Scotland. The results of these two studies support SEPA's monitoring programme.

"The RIFE report shows that doses received by the public in Scotland from authorised discharges of radioactivity were significantly below the statutory limit. The seaweed study indicates that while seaweed is used extensively as a soil conditioner for land used for growing crops in coastal areas of Western and Northern Scotland, the predicted doses received by individuals are extremely small, the highest being in the order of a few microsieverts in a year and much lower than the 1mSv (1000 microsieverts) limit.

The reports can be found at -
http://www.sepa.org.uk/radioactive_substances/publications/rife_reports.aspx
http://www.food.gov.uk/science/surveillance/radiosurv/rife/rife08/