The body that advises the Government on nuclear protection has welcomed the introduction by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) of a new treatment system at the controversial Sellafield nuclear power plant.
Dr Tony Colgan, principal scientific officer at the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) told ireland.com the introduction of the new system was "extremely welcome" and that is should result in a "significant reduction of [radioactive] discharges seen in seawater, seafood, and in particular shellfish."
Discharges of a radioactive metal - technetium-99 (Tc-99) would, according to BNFL, be reduced by 90 percent as a result of the new £2 billion sterling (€2.99 billion) waste treatment project.
While emission levels of Tc-99 would be greatly reduced, Dr Colgan said the British should reduce the legal ceiling for Tc-99 discharge, which would otherwise remain "very high".
Technetium-99 occurs naturally in minute amounts in the earth's crust, but is primarily man-made. Tc-99 has a radioactive half-life of 212,000 years and is produced as a by-product of the operation of nuclear reactors and may become part of its airborne, liquid, or solid waste.
BNFL has claimed the system will dramatically cut the amount of radioactive waste being released into the Irish Sea.
A BNFL spokeswoman said "It's something our international neighbours will be very pleased about. For many years we have been looking for means of taking it out of our discharge stream,"
"We can effectively remove most of the key radioactive material through various processing plants but this particular one has always been a bit problematic."
Last month the European Union told Britain to clean up the plant, ordering full safety inspections and giving a June 1 deadline for the UK government to produce an action plan.
