§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the latest figures for principal discharges of liquid radioactive waste from United Kingdom nuclear establishments for 1982 and 1983 in the form of table 1 of the report on radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles, 1981, published by the directorate of fisheries research.
§ Mr. MacGregorDetails of discharges of liquid radioactive waste from nuclear establishments in the United Kingdom in 1982 are set out in the table in the form requested. Information in this form is clearly not yet available for 1983. My right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Wales are responsible for authorising the level of discharges from plants in Scotland and Wales respectively, but I understand the position to be as indicated in the table.
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Establishment Radioactivity Discharge limit (annual equivalent), Ci● Discharges during 1982 Ci Per cent, of limit utilised Zinc—65 5.00 0.03 0.6 Tritium 1 500.00 53.000 3.5 Dungeness Total activity* 200.00 32.000 16.2 Tritium 2 000.00 20.000 1.0 Hinkley Point "A" Station Total activity* 200.00 72.000 36.0 Tritium 2 000.00 18.000 0.9 "B" Station Total activity* ¶ 100.00 1.000 1.2 Sulphur—35 700.00 23.000 3.2 Tritium 18 000.00 6 260.000 34.8 Oldbuiy Total activity* 1.0000 54.000 53.9 Tritium 2 000.00 26.000 1.3 Sizewell Total activity* 200.00 28.000 14.0 Tritium 3 000.00 35.000 1.2 Trawsfynydd Total activity* 40.00 13.000 32.8 Caesium—137 7.00 0.700 10.0 Tritium 2 000.00 100.000 5.0 Wylfa Total activity* 65.00 3.000 4.6 Tritium 4 000.00 502.000 12.6 South of Scotland Electricity Board Hunterston Total activity* 4 326.00 228.000 536.0 "A" Station Tritium 1 200.00 40.000 3.00 "B" Station Total activity*¶ 100.00 6.000 6.0 Sulphur—35 700.00 76.000 10.9 Tritium 40 000.00 6 930.000 17.0 Ministry of Defence (Procurement Executive) Aldermaston Total activity*‡ 156.00 4.0500 2.6 Tritium 156.00 10.8000 7.0 Ministry of Defence (Navy Department) Chatham Cobalt—60 10.00 0.0700 0.7 Tritium 20.00 0.0000 0.0 Devonport Total activity* 4.00 0.0170 0.42 Cobalt—60 1.00 0.0120 1.2 Tritium 10.00 0.5000 0.5 Faslane Total activity* 1.00 0.00285 0.28 Rosyth Total activity* 30.00 0.1240 0.4 Amersham International plc Amersham Tritium 400.00 2.5000 0.6 * Excluding tritium. † Excluding uranium and its decay products. ‡ Authorisation or agreement specifies a control formula in which the total activity is calculated equivalent curies, intended to allow for the relative radiotoxicities of different nuclides. The sums of the actual discharges in curies were lower than the values indicated. Column 4 gives equivalent terabecquerels. ║ A single site authorisation applies at Hinkley Point. The table format represents the way in which it has been agreed that the authorisation should be apportioned in practice. ¶ Excluding sulphur—35. ● The temporary authorisation for 432 Ci for the 12 month period to June 198 has been renewed for a further 12 months. In the year to June 1982 the discharges were 249 Ci or 58 per cent, of the authorised limit. ■ Unless otherwise stated.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the monthly figures for measured total beta radioactivity from the discharges from Sellafield sea pipeline and Hunterston A and B as derived from the operators' returns to his directorate of fisheries research; and how they compare with the authorised discharge limits in each case.
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§ Mr. MacGregorThe amount of beta radioactivity discharged each month from January 1982 until the most recent month for which figures are available to my Department is:
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Sellafield total beta discharges (curies) 1982 January 8,590 February 7,766 March 8,130 April 6,519 May 7,107 June 8,152 July 8,614 August 8,973 September 7,525 October 9,145 November 8,675 December 6,170 1983 January 8,476 February 7,261 March 6,697 April 4,291 May 3,921 June 4,965 July 4,542 August 5,854
Hunterston: Total beta discharges (curies) A Station B Station 1982 January 18.84 0.77 February 24.47 0.66 March 30.85 0.51 April 36.14 0.39 May 26.25 0.19 June 25.72 0.23 July 23.31 1.30 August 6.04 0.25 September 17.00 0.38 October 7.40 0.54 November 1.20 0.40 December 7.91 0.42 1983 January 3.58 0.18 February 2.72 0.16 March 2.43 0.59 April 3.63 0.39 May 5.68 0.18 June 20.97 0.33 July 6.42 0.22 Under the terms of the authorisation granted to British Nuclear Fuels Limited discharges of beta radioactivity from Sellafield must not exceed 75,000 curies in any three-month period, and BNFL must also limit discharges such that radiation exposures are as low as reasonably achievable. For Hunterston A I understand that the authorisation granted by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland requires discharges of beta radioactivity to be kept below 432 curies in each year running from July to June and for Hunterston B to 100 curies in any 12-month period.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food if he will give the levels of radioactivity in each species of fish measured, as published for 1981 in the report by the directorate of fisheries research, tables 4, 5 and 6, for all years for which such data are available, giving the percentage increase in mean radioactivity concentration each year.
§ Mr. MacGregorCopies of the most recent report and those for previous years have been placed in the Library304W of the House. These show year-to-year fluctuations for individual species, but in general there has been a downward trend over the past few years reflecting reductions in discharges from Sellafield.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what action he has taken following publication of data about the increased levels of overall radioactivity and caesium found in fish in the Irish Sea and Scottish coastal waters and the evidence of increased radioactivity arising from discharges from Sellafield and Hunterston; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MacGregorMost of the man-made radioactivity found in fish in the Irish Sea and Scottish coastal waters arises from discharges of radiocaesium from Sellafield. The increased concentration of radiocaesium in the 1981 report on radioactivity in surface and coastal waters was due to a transient reduction in water flow through the Irish Sea. It did not result from an increase in discharges. Indeed, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Environment made clear in reply to a written question from the hon. Member for Copeland (Dr. Cunningham) on 2 November there have been considerable reductions in discharges of both ceasium and plutonium and other alpha emitters from Sellafield and further substantial reductions are planned.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food why the report on radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British Isles, 1981. published by the directorate of fisheries research. Lowestoft, was not sent to the press with a departmental press release.
§ Mr. MacGregorIt is not the practice of this Ministry to issue press releases with all reports which it publishes. In the case of this particular report, which is a very detailed technical one, the normal previous practice was followed, as carried out by successive Governments for many years. Copies were sent to some members of the press, w ho had expressed interest in the subject, when it was issued and copies have also been made available to others in response to specific requests.