BRITISH Nuclear Fuels' latest monitoring figures indicate that concentrations of radioactive Technetium 99 found in lobsters off the West Cumbrian coast near Sellafield have risen to unprecedented levels.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland expressed concern at the levels "which have not occurred previously". Its chief executive, Dr Tom O'Flaherty, said the levels were due to increased Technetium discharges since mid 1994 and "it's of concern that any seafood in any part of the Irish Sea would have such high levels in it".
The environmental group, Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE), said the level found last October was 36,000 bequerels per kg - double the previous high figure found in 1995. The EU limit for foodstuffs (following the Chernobyl meltdown) is 1,250 bq/kg.
Last night BNFL said the figures were correct but did not pose a health risk when background radiation was considered, A spokesman accused CORE of making "misleading allegations, based on selective reproduction of our own monitoring figures".
The increased contamination would have knock on consequences for Ireland, the Green MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, said. "Successive Irish governments have fudged taking action on Sellafield. This is not a political game. These discharges have got to stop immediately."
Dr Mary Grehan, a Dundalk GP who has researched the effects of Sellafield on schoolchildren in Co Louth, said the figures were very worrying. "The Irish Sea is quite small. Within two to three years we are going to have the same kind of readings.
BNFL said Technetium levels last November were less than an eighth of the previous month. It said "the average dose arising from the whole of 1996 is less that 1 per cent of the average from natural background radiation in the UK". Monthly levels varied "because effluent treatment for this particular waste is done in a batch process".
Technetium 99 does not occur naturally to a significant extent. It is highly soluble and can be transported over long distances quickly. Lobsters are considered good indicators of contamination.
