§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if she will list the radiological leaks from Sellafield; when they took place; and what and how much radioactive material was leaked to the environment. [83251]
§ Mr. MeacherThe Environment Agency conducts monitoring of the local surface waters around the Sellafield site and springs of groundwater found on the Sellafield beach. I understand that, to date, the Agency has identified two sources which result in detectable levels of radioactivity off the Sellafield site, albeit at very low levels.
These involved seepage of tritium from on-site burial trenches from the 1950s to the present day, resulting in off-site radioactivity levels of 119—353 Becquerels/litre; and seepage of technetium-99 from the B241 waste storage tanks from around 1978 to the present day, resulting in off-site radioactivity levels of <0.2 Becquerels/litre.
The radiological and environmental impact of the leakage of low levels of tritium and technetium-99 is assessed by the Environment Agency to be trivial.