§ Mr. Murtonasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government what applications he has received from the Southern Gas Board to discharge radioactive waste into Poole Harbour as part of a gas-making process involving depleted uranium; whether he will give an assurance that the amount of uranium in the condensate proposed to be discharged is well within the limits of safety; and if he will publish in the OFFICIAL REPORT the main conditions attaching to his Certificate of Authorisation.
§ Mr. GreenwoodThe Southern Gas Board applied for and have been given an authorisation under Section 6 of the Radioactive Substances Act 1960 to discharge into Poole Harbour radioactive effluents arising from the use of a catalyst containing uranium oxide in the production of gas at Poole Gasworks. The more important conditions in this Authorisation are:—
- (1) that the solid waste is removed to the premises of the Atomic Energy Authority;
- (2) that the liquid waste is discharged into any drainage system of the Poole Borough
175 Council used wholly or partly for the disposal of trade effluent from the gasworks; - (3) that not more than 1.2 kilogrammes of natural or depleted uranium, at a concentration not exceeding 0.04 microgrammes per millilitre of effluent, are discharged each month.
My right hon. Friend the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and I are satisfied that the radioactivity in the effluents will not cause any harm to public health or to marine life and the discharges are well within the limits recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection as acceptable in drinking water. (In this case the discharge is to sea water.)