HMIP monitoring programme: radioactive substances report for 1990

Discharges of radioactive wastes to the environment can only be made under authorisation from government bodies. The main potential sources of environmental contamination in England are nuclear sites (power stations, fuel fabrication and reprocessing plants), some industrial premises such as metal smelters, and landfill sites. As well as the environmental monitoring programmes undertaken by the operators of such sites various government bodies also undertake monitoring. In January 1988 Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) initiated a programme to monitor exposure of the public from non-food pathways such as could occur from occupation of beaches, river banks etc. Radiation levels and radiochemical and gamma spectra of samples collected at specified locations near nuclear sites and industrial premises have been monitored every quarter since then. The results for 1990 are presented and discussed. (UK)