COMARE 6th Report: Radioactive Particles at Dounreay
COMARE's Sixth Report[1] summarises the work undertaken since 1995 and up until October 1998 in:
- Locating the source of the radioactive particles found in the general environment around the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment.
- Evaluating the possible health implications of encountering these particles.
- Considering whether ingesting these particles could be associated with the previously reported excess of leukaemia and non Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in young people living in Thurso.
Location of the route by which the particles are reaching the Dounreay Foreshore and the beach at Sandside Bay
The work undertaken to find the route by which the particles are reaching the Dounreay foreshore and the beach at Sandside Bay is the subject of a report by the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) which is published today (30 March 1999)[2]. A description of this work is included in summary form in the second chapter of the Sixth COMARE Report.
Health Implications
COMARE has concluded that the particles, if encountered, present a real hazard to health and that the hottest particles could induce serious acute radiation effects. The Committee has stated that while the probability of encountering a particle is small, it is not negligible. If individuals ingested particles with radioactivity levels at the top of the range of those already found on the Dounreay foreshore, fatalities might occur. Particles with lower activities may cause severe intestinal disorders although these might not be attributed to radiation exposure.
Leukaemia risk to children resulting from ingestion of radioactive particles
Three radioactive particles have been found on the publicly accessible Sandside beach. However, COMARE has considered whether contact with such particles could have given rise to the known level of childhood leukaemia in the area around Dounreay. COMARE approached this question by mathematical modelling and the calculations suggest that approximately 25,000 particle ingestions would be required to produce level of leukaemia in the area around Dounreay. COMARE has, therefore, concluded that radioactive particles at Sandside Bay do not provide a realistic explanation for the increased incidence of leukaemia in young people in the Dounreay area.
Past practices at Dounreay
The past waste management practices of the operator, the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at Dounreay, warrant severe criticism. However, there is some doubt as to whether UKAEA were entirely to blame for practices which would be considered unacceptable today. The Scottish Office has been responsible for authorising discharges and disposals of radioactive waste from or at the Dounreay site. COMARE considers that, in the past, the resources applied by the Scottish Office to overseeing the regulation of waste disposal at Dounreay have been inadequate, but hope that the current arrangements and funding of the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency will address these shortcomings.
COMARE has also noted that the work required to identify the route by which the radioactive particles reach the beach and foreshore is being designed, approved and carried out at good speed, and the Committee is assured this will continue until all the problems are solved.
Recommendations for Further Work
Until the routes by which the particles enter the local environment are discovered, beaches in the area should be monitored regularly and comprehensively. Furthermore, the UKAEA should develop a beach monitoring strategy, continue to monitor beaches after storms, develop new monitoring technology and monitor the whole of Scrabster and Thurso beaches at frequent intervals.
The appropriate authorities should prudently consider the adequacy of beach monitoring near other nuclear sites in the UK, as the Dounreay experience has demonstrated how small an area might be covered by current monitoring practices and activities.
Press Enquiries: Professor B A Bridges Tel: 01273-678123Copies of COMARE's Sixth Report can be obtained from NRPB Publications Office, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RQ (cheque for £11.00, inclusive of £1.00 postage and packing, with order payable to NRPB), ISBN 0-85951-428-5.
References
[1] COMARE 6th Report: A reconsideration of the possible health implications of the radioactive particles found in the general environment around the Dounreay Nuclear Establishment in the light of the work undertaken since 1995 to locate their source. Chairman: Professor B A Bridges (1999).[2] The Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee's review of: Radioactive Particles at UKAEA Dounreay. Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), London (1999).
Note For Editors
Previous report and the current RWMAC reportIn May 1995, COMARE and the Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) published reports in a document entitled "Potential Health Effects and Possible Sources of Radioactive Particles Found in the Vicinity of Dounreay Nuclear Establishment" (COMARE/RWMAC 1995). Following publication of this report, COMARE and RWMAC were informed of a programme of work which, it was hoped, would discover the source of these particles. Both committees have been following the progress of this programme carefully. Although the original programme is almost complete, to date no definitive route of spread of the particles has been identified. The programme has, therefore, been extended and will continue until this route is discovered.
The work already undertaken is the subject of the RWMAC report published concurrently with the Sixth COMARE Report. Further details can be obtained from the RWMAC Secretariat, telephone number 0171-890-6260.
Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment
c/o National Radiological Protection Board, Chilton, Didcot,
Oxon OX11 0RQ
Tel: 01235-832447 (Scientific)
Tel: 01235-822629 (Administration)
Fax: 01235-832447
Chairman: Professor B A Bridges
Radioactive Waste Management Committee (RWMAC)
Zone 4/D9 Ashdown House 123 Victoria Street London SW1E 6D
Acting Chairman: Professor C Curtis
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