A political row has broken out over the report of a task force set up by the Minister for the Marine, which claims that there is no health risk from radioactive material that was dumped in the Irish Sea by the British authorities between the 1950s and the 1970s.
The Green Party TD Trevor Sargent says there are deficiencies in the report and has described it as more of a political face-saving exercise than a scientific report. But this has been rejected by the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, who says it sets a clear benchmark that there is not a health hazard in the Irish Sea.
The Department of the Marine's task force, chaired by a barrister and including scientific experts from UCD and the Radiological Institute, as well as officials from the Marine Institute and the Department of the Marine, concluded that the risk to human health is extremely low and does not constitute a health hazard. They also conclude that there should be no reason not to eat fish caught in the Irish Sea, to swim there or to use it for water-sports. This runs quite contrary to the environmental lobby, which has described the Irish Sea as particularly radioactive.
The task force began its work in July of 1997, after it was revealed in the House of Commons that the British Government had allowed radioactive waste from ships to be dumped in the Beaufort Dyke in the North Irish Sea during the 50s. It was also revealed that there had been dumping off Scotland, Liverpool Bay and even off Holyhead, all areas where ferries and commercial shipping operate. Sellafield has been the main source of radioactive effluent being dumped into the Irish Sea. However, there has also been radioactivity fall-out from nuclear weapons testing before 1963 and as a result of the Chernobyl accident in 1986. The main concern has been that the public would be affected by eating fish and shellfish caught in the Irish Sea.
The conclusions of the task force may well be challenged by environmentalists, but, while it recommends continuing study, it points out that the type of dumping which it studied ceased in the 70s and that nuclear waste is now reprocessed. It does, however, warn that there should be great caution in carrying out any works that might disturb the seabed where it is known that radioactive waste is dumped.
This is particularly so in the Beaufort Dyke, where munitions were also dumped and from where phosphorous came ashore on the East Coast last year. This appears to indicate possible fears for the future should there be disturbance of dumping areas. There is also a strong warning that the Government here should strenuously oppose any attempt by the UK Government to renew nuclear waste dumping.
