§ Mr. ChaytorTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland whether the Department contributed to the research reported on in the report, Radioactivity Monitoring of the Irish Marine Environment 2000 and 2001, released in May by the Radiation Protection Institute of Ireland; and if he will make a statement on research collaboration between his Office and the RP II. [141673]
§ Angela SmithThe Department of the Environment, Northern Ireland did not contribute to the research reported in the report, "Radioactivity Monitoring of the Irish Marine Environment 2000 and 2001", released in May by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland.
The Department has undertaken a number of collaborative studies with the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland and University College Dublin since 1990. These studies looked at artificial radioactivity in Carlingford Lough, Lough Foyle and Strangford Lough and confirmed that contamination levels in the Northern Ireland environment are of negligible radiological significance.