Mr. AustinMitchell asked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food which of the results of radionuclide level tests between 1980 and 1986 in Cumbria have been published by his Department; and in which publications they appear.
§ Mr. Donald ThompsonResults of tests carried out for radionuclide levels in the aquatic environment for all parts of the country in the years 1980 to 1985 inclusive were published in annual reports entitled "Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles", copies of which are placed in the Library of the House. Results for 1986 will be published later this year in the same way. An additional report was also published last year describing the results of the Department's monitoring for Chernobyl fallout in the aquatic environment in the months immediately following the Chernobyl accident.
Results of the tests carried out in the agricultural and terrestrial environment in Cumbria were not in the past published on a regular basis. Some results are contained in a scientific paper entitled "Radioactivity in Environmental Samples Taken in the Sellafield and Ravenglass areas of West Cumbria 1977–1982 (Bradford, Curtis and Popplewell)" which was published in "Science of the Total Environment (1984) volume 35 pp 267–283.
Results for 1986 will, however, be published later this year in the first annual report of this Department's expanded programme of testing in the agricultural and terrestrial environment in the vicinity of major nuclear sites in England and Wales which commenced on 1 January 1986. Results of testing undertaken in May to December 1986 following the Chernobyl accident were published in "Radionuclide Levels in Food, Animals and Agricultural Products: Post-Chernobyle Monitoring in England and Wales", a copy of which has been placed in the Library of the House.