Lethal radioactive substances which cannot now be traced were dumped as ordinary waste by the drinks manufacturer Cantrell Cochrane Ireland in October 1999, it emerged yesterday.
The radioactive waste was contained in three industrial gauges which were never recovered after they were sent to landfill.
However, the company and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) appeared to differ on the risks posed by the incident, with the company claiming in a statement issued through its public relations agents last night : "The RPII confirmed that any risk posed to the public by the disposal of the devices is minimal."
The chief executive of the RPII, Mr Tom O'Flaherty, rejected the company's assertion in relation to such confirmation and further described the amount of radiation as "significant".
He said the gauges may be an effective shield from the radiation within, but added that the radiation could be lethal to anyone who found and tampered with the gauges. Similar amounts of radiation had caused serious injury and deaths elsewhere, he said.
Referring to the company's use of the word "minimal", Mr O'Flaherty repeated that the amounts of radiation had caused deaths.
In a statement issued yesterday, the RPII said the incident "highlighted carelessness in the management of radiation sources which could be lethal to an innocent individual if found and tampered with."
The RPII investigated the incident and took a successful prosecution against the company, in which the company was fined the maximum £1,000 in the District Court.
Despite the successful prosecution, the RPII was unable to ascertain the exact location of the dump to which the gauges would have been brought.
The RPII accepted the loss of the gauges which were held in storage under licence, was inadvertent.
The gauges were standard equipment used in industry to measure the quantity of substance in a sealed contained.
The statement issued on behalf of C&C last night acknowledged the incident and said all other gauges held under licences from the RPII had been fully accounted for. It said "the most rigorous" systems had been put in place to ensure such an incident did not happen again.
A spokesman put the apparent disagreement down to a comment made by the RPII in January 2001 to the effect that the housing of the substances provided an effective shield and the disposal in a landfill site did not "constitute a current hazard".