Discharges of radioactive waste from the British reprocessing plant near Sellafield

The Sellafield plant on the northwest coast of England discharges radioactive waste into the Irish Sea. Much of the waste is transported by ocean currents to the North Sea, along the Norwegian coast and up to the Arctic. In 1994, discharges of the long-lived radionuclide technetium-99 showed a sharp increase. However, discharges of most radioactive substances are still appreciably lower than they were in the '70s and '80s. Based on current knowledge, the concentrations of anthropogenic radioactivity in the marine environment do not represent a health hazard. Even so, the Norwegian authorities are working to achieve reductions in the discharges of long-lived radioactive waste such as technetium99. They are doing so in the knowledge that discharges can be reduced using current technology, and because no one is certain of the mechanisms controlling the way technetium behaves in the marine environment. A precautionary approach is therefore called for. (author)