WRITTEN QUESTION E-4005/97 by Allan Macartney (ARE) to the Commission (14 January 1998)

Subject: Radioactive waste dumping off the coast of Scotland, in particular in the area known as Beaufort's Dyke

Documents recently discovered in the UK Public Records Office show that radioactive waste has been dumped in the area of Beaufort's Dyke. In respect of other locations not previously recognized as dumping sites for radioactive waste, the Scottish Office has now identified the following:

- scrap from a radioactive valve manufacturing unit dumped between 1954 and 1957 in the Firth of Forth off North Queensferry,

- advice to a UK company in 1949 to dispose of 35 000 luminized dials likely to have contained in total between 25 and 50mg radium either on land or in sealed drums at least five miles offshore, probably continuing in the 1950s,

- the dumping by a UK company of two anti-static devices (strontium 90) at the explosives disposal site off the Isle of Arran prior to 1958,

- the dumping in 1963 at Garrach Head, on the Clyde, of material from the clean-up of a former radium factory at Balloch.

The area of Beaufort's Dyke is of particular concern. Quantities of radioactive waste were dumped around this area during the 1950s and 1970s. Of immediate concern is the approval of the construction of an electricity interconnector adjacent to Beaufort's Dyke. This could result in the further disturbance of munitions, recently distrubed during the laying of a gas pipeline. The radioactive nature of some of the materials dumped off Beaufort's Dyke means that questions of safety must be considered. The availability of European Union structural funding for a project involving potential health and safety risks should also be addressed.

In light of the new evidence set out above concerning the dumping of radioactive waste around Scotland, is the Commission now in a position to investigate this matter fully (with reference to its answer of 24 January 1996, x1/001145, from Marius Enthoven)?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (5 February 1998)

The Commission is aware of the evidence to which the Honourable Member refers. The Honourable Member is referred to the reply it gave to written question P-2495/97 by Mrs McKenna ((OJ C 60, 25.2.1998, p. 136. )), on the dumping of radioactive waste in Beaufort's Dyke, between Scotland and Northern Ireland. Although the United Kingdom was not a Member State at the time of the dumping in question, the Commission has made enquiries into this matter. In particular, the Commission asked the British authorities for further information on the quantity and range of radionuclides involved, on the nature of the packaging used and on possible health effects from the waste.

Even although regular monitoring since the 1960s had not revealed any measurable effect on radioactivity in the area concerned, the British authorities commissioned the National radiological protection board (NRPB) to make an independent assessment of the information and to estimate the radiological significance of the disposals to Beaufort's Dyke and of disposals around the Scottish coast which came to light at the same time. That comprehensive assessment was presented to the British authorities in November 1997 and is available, from the British National radiological protection board, as NRPB Memorandum M859, 'Assessment of the radiological implications of dumping in Beaufort's Dyke and other coastal waters from the 1950s'. It was concluded that estimated doses from the dispersion of radionuclides were not significant in radiological protection terms. An assessment was also made of potential doses from handling drums and individual items returned to beaches by wave action or recovered as a result of fishing activities. A radiologically significant dose results from one scenario only, namely the handling of either of two strontium-90 sources disposed of near the Isle of Arran. While the likelihood of such an event was considered to be very small, the NRPB nevertheless considered that it might be prudent to offer advice to trawlermen and organisations responsible for dealing with material that is washed up on beaches. However, in the light of its assessment, the NRPB recommended that there was no need for additional monitoring of the marine environment in connection with the disposals, nor implicitly any justification in seeking to recover the waste.

In view of these conclusions and of the fact that the disposals took place prior to Euratom legislation being applicable to the United Kingdom, the Commission considers that no further action is required on its part.

With regard to the proposed construction of an electricity interconnector between Scotland and Northern Ireland, the safety of the undersea route has been a priority from the outset, as it has long been known that Beaufort's Dyke has been used for many years as a dumping ground for surplus munitions. Northern Ireland electricity (NIE) has carried out three separate detailed surveys of the seabed along the route corridors being considered, using state of the art survey equipment. The detailed cable routes have been selected within the surveyed corridors so as to avoid all obstacles. Further surveys along these selected routes will be carried out both before and after laying the cables as a matter of normal installation practice. When the cables are being installed, the precision methods which will be used will ensure that nothing on the seabed is disturbed. These installation methods are vastly less disruptive of the seabed than those used to lay a pipeline. NIE is working closely with the health and safety authorities, and issued an addendum to its environmental statement in December 1997, as a response to the NRPB memorandum referred to above. This addendum is currently in public consultation in Northern Ireland. However, since the only area of concern raised by the NRPB was near the Isle of Arran, nowhere near the site of the interconnector, no new risk arises. The Commission is satisfied that the health and safety issues surrounding the interconnector have been adequately addressed and that the laying of the cables will not pose any risk to public health and safety.