§ Mr. Donald Stewartasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what recent information he has as to the levels of radioactivity in milk from cows in the areas adjacent to the Holy Loch.
§ Mr. RifkindThe source of man-made radioactivity in milk produced around the Holy Loch is atmospheric fall-out which affects the whole of the United Kingdom. The concentrations in milk from the area are similar to those in other areas of the country of comparable rainfall.
Measurements are made of milk produced at representative dairies throughout Scotland by the National Radiological Protection board as part of its programme of surveillance of environnmental radioactivity. The most recent published results are for 1983 and they are available in the report entitled "Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance Programme: Results for UK for 1983" (NRPB-R174). The main contributors to the radioactivity are strontium 90 and caesium 137 and the average concentrations during 1983 are shown in the following table:
Concentration, becquerels per litre Country Strontium 90 Caesium 137 England 0.07 0.05 Scotland 0.10 0.07 Wales 0.13 0.08 Northern Ireland 0.10 0.10 I understand that the most recent results, which will be published in detail in due course, show that the concentrations of strontium 90 have not changed
550W
Health board Recurrent expenditure (net) £ million Ordinary capital programme (net) £ million Total £ million Argyll and Clyde 104.172 2.700 106.872 Ayrshire and Arran 75.440 2.230 77.670 Borders 21.576 0.610 22.186 Dumfries and Galloway 37.045 0.930 37.975 significantly since 1983 whilst those of caesium 137 have decreased. The levels remain of no concern radiologically and are equivalent in terms of dose of people to a tiny fraction of that due to naturally occurring background radiation.
Regular monitoring of the Holy Loch itself has continued on my behalf by the fisheries research laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The most recent results are published in the report entitled "Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles, 1984" (Aquatic Environment Monitoring Report No. 13, MAFF, Lowestoft, 1985) which is available in the Library. They confirm that the very small discharges of low level radioactive waste from the US base have no significant effect on the environment.