Monitoring for radioactivity to be stepped up over lobster

MONITORING for radioactivity in fish in the Irish Sea is to be intensified following confirmation that a lobster recovered off Sellafield had radiation levels almost 29 times the EU limit.

It has also emerged that the EU "has no grounds" to prevent the sale of lobsters taken near Sellafield. Nor does British Nuclear Fuels, the plant's operator, plan to take any action on the findings.

The Government yesterday described the situation as "totally unacceptable". Ireland would be raising the issue of radioactive contamination of the Irish Sea from Sellafield with Britain and calling for the immediate reduction and elimination of Technetium 90, the type found in the lobster, according to the Minister of State, Mr Emmet Stagg.

"I have already requested an early meeting with my British counterpart to pursue this specific problem," he said in a statement.

The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland tests for Sellafield pollution in fish, water and seaweed samples from the Irish Sea. "We will be looking at levels of radiation in lobsters and other types of fish very closely from now on to see if there is any indication of increased levels which have been found on the Cumbrian coast," its chief executive, Dr Tom O'Flaherty, said.

The EU Commission was asked earlier this year if it would restrict the sale of lobsters taken off Sellafield. In its response, the Commission said the maximum allowed annual exposure to the public from such radiation was set at 5,000 microSv, with plans to lower this to 1,000 microSv by 2000. "The Commission has no grounds, therefore, for action concerning the marketing of lobsters originating near Sellafield."

Asked if the company had any plans to respond to the findings, a BNFL spokesman said: "No, I don't think so. The thing that we have always concentrated on is the safety of the food chain. If we had seen an increase in the dose [to humans] then we would have had to look at things."

BNFL's testing programme picked up the lobster with high levels of radioactive Technetium 99 last October. It had an activity level of 36,000 becquerels (bq) per kilo, compared to an EU limit of 1,250 bq. A lobster taken several months before had 17,000 bq and one last November recorded 4,400 bq, according to a BNFL spokesman.

The Technetium 99 comes from Sellafield's enhanced reprocessing actinide plant.