§ Mr. Channonasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will make a statement about the proposal to discharge up to 3,000 gallons of radiation-contaminated milk into the Thames Estuary or the North Sea in the event of a serious accident at Bradwell power station; what effect this will have on fish in the areas affected; what danger will exist to swimmers in the vicinity; and if he is satisfied that there is no risk to the population in surrounding areas.
§ Mr. HoyThe arrangement described by the hon. Member is a long-standing contingency plan against the very remote possibility of a serious accident at Bradwell. It has been recently reviewed and is accepted by local authorities and the Sea Fisheries Committee. If the milk is pumped into the sea as proposed, the radioactivity could cause no harm to human beings, marine life or the environment generally. Indeed the problem of disposing of milk in this way is much less a problem of radioactivity than a problem of pollution arising from the close similarity between the effect of milk discharged into the sea and that of the organic content of sewage similarly discharged, and this has been taken fully into account in assessing what would be an acceptable rate of disposal for milk through the sewage and power station outfalls concerned.