Independent radiation monitoring

The importance of environmental monitoring for radioactivity was highlighted by the Chernobyl accident which led to contamination of parts of the United Kingdom. There is also a need for regular monitoring of sites such as the British Nuclear Fuels reprocessing plant at Sellafield. Because of past errors and complacency there is a lack of public confidence in the official monitoring programme. Friends of the Earth and various other groups have set up independent radiation monitoring units. Local authorities have also embarked on a monitoring programme. At the moment all these are uncoordinated and their radiation figures are difficult to correlate. Friends of the Earth wants to coordinate the data using a data exchange system between the various groups so that discrepancies in the official data can be highlighted and potential radiation hazards can be reliably identified. (U.K.)