[NukeNet] Scotland: Solway beach polluted by radioactivity

[The Roy Process]

Sunday Heraldhttp://www.sundayherald.com/59002
      Sunday Herald - 12 November 2006 
      Solway beach polluted by radioactivity
      By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor 


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      A beacH in the south of Scotland has been contaminated with radioactive particles from an old nuclear power station, raising fears the country's nuclear legacy is not being properly cleaned up. 
      The pollution of part of the Solway Firth near Annan, caused by a waste pipeline from the nearby Chapelcross nuclear power station, brings to four the number of Scottish beaches open to the public now known to have been tainted with radioactivity. 

      The Dounreay nuclear plant is facing prosecution for contaminating Sandside Bay and other parts of the Caithness coast, while Dalgety Bay in Fife has been repeatedly contaminated with radium dumped by an old military base. Last year, radioactively -tainted material, from an oil company, was removed from a beach in Aberdeen. 

      The contamination of the Solway Firth is revealed in the latest official report on radioactivity in food and the environment from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) and other regulators. 

      The report says that 95 radioactive particles had been discovered on the foreshore in 2005, against a total of 31 particles found over the previous five years. The large increase is due to heavy rain and flooding last year flushing radioactivity from the Chapelcross waste pipeline, the report said. 

      The inside of the pipeline, which is 50 years old, is coated with radioactive limescale deposited by years of liquid discharges from the now-defunct nuclear plant. Pieces break off and are dumped on the beach around the end of the outfall by rushing water. 

      For several years, there have been plans to build a new filter to prevent the pollution, but this has been subject to "delays", according to Sepa's report. The contamination was first discovered in 1992, though it has not been publicised. 

      Duncan McLaren, chief executive of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: " As old nuclear power facilities are closed down there seems to be a lack of interest from anyone in making sure known pollution problems are dealt with." 

      Sepa said it was applying "regulatory pressure" to stop the pollution. 



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      Copyright © 2006 smg sunday newspapers ltd. no.176088 
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