Asked by: Allan Dorans (Scottish National Party - Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to help monitor radioactive contamination levels from Sellafield nuclear plant; and what assessment she has made of the potential impact of this work on marine life along the coastline of South West Scotland.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Safety is our overriding priority at Sellafield. The annual environmental monitoring and dose assessment reports from Sellafield Ltd and the annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) reports produced by the environmental regulators (including the Scottish Environment Protection Agency) provide comprehensive assessments of the impacts of discharges from the Sellafield site to the environment.
The RIFE report for 2022 shows that total radioactive discharges from Sellafield decreased in 2022 as compared to 2021.
Their assessments are based on the extensive environmental monitoring programmes conducted by the operators and regulators and both programmes are conclusive that the environmental impacts of the Sellafield site are within legal limits. This work is subject to independent scrutiny through the Department of Health and Social Care Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment Contaminations working group and the West Cumbria Sites Stakeholder Group.