§ Mr. FearnTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions how much radioactive nuclear waste was(a) pumped and (b) dumped into the Irish Sea in (i) 1970 to 1979, (ii) 1980 to 1989, (iii) 1990 to 1999 and (iv) 2000 to date. [143160]
§ Mr. MeacherAnnual discharge data for the years 1970 to 1994, for nuclear sites in the UK, are contained in Government reports on radioactivity in the marine environment as follows:
Radiobiological Laboratory Technical 12,Report, Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles, MAFF. Annual publication, 1966–1976.Aquatic Environment Monitoring Report, Radioactivity in Surface and Coastal Waters of the British Isles, MAFF. Annual publication, 1977–1994.I am arranging for copies of these reports to be placed in the Libraries of the House. Data for the years 1995 to 1999 are contained in the annual publication "Radioactivity in Food and the Environment", copies of which are in the House of Commons Library. Data for 2000 will be published in due course.
I am commissioning work to be done on collating this information in the form requested.
The UK ceased all sea dumping of radioactive waste from 1982. The issue of dumping of radioactive waste in Beaufort's Dyke and other parts of the Irish Sea prior to that date was addressed by the then Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Perry Barr (Mr. Rooker), in his answers of 1 July 1997, Official Report, columns 158–60W, 30 July 1997, Official Report, columns 322–24W, and 24 November 1997, Official Report, columns 409–10W.