§ Ms. Harmanasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what actions have been taken to protect fishing vessels and personnel in the area of the leak of radiation at Sellafield.
§ Mr. MacGregorFollowing the recent incident my Department has carried out a special monitoring programme. The levels of radio-activity found on fishing vessels and gear did not differ significantly from those recorded before the incident and the dose to local fishermen from this route and from direct gamma radiation from the beach remains a very small percentage of the internationally recognised limit. However, in view of the localised hot-spot contamination associated with shoreline debris, the public have been advised to avoid unnecessary use of the local beaches and not to handle material washed up by the sea.