Mannin/Isle of Man: Technetium 99 Still Twice 1997 Level
The Isle of Man Government laboratory has issued its annual report on Radioactivity Monitoring on the Isle of Man 2008
The report indicated that concentrations of the radioactive pollutant Technetium 99 which is found in lobsters continues to fall. This particular pollutant has been focused on in the past by the Celtic League following an unexplained surge in levels monitored in 2004.
The Manx laboratory say that current levels pose no harm and that levels now are less than a quarter of that found in 1998. The graph which complements the report shows however those levels are still approximately twice the concentration found in 1997.
Technetium is a pollutant from the Sellafield reprocessing plant and whilst it and other radioactive contaminant show much lower levels than two decades ago the plants contamination of the North Irish Sea is still a cause for concern.
An interesting anomaly in the Tc 99 figures is that across the twelve month sampling period there are marked variations in the levels identified as follows:
Feb 2008 45 Bq.kg Apr 2008 61 Bq.kg Jul 2008 99 Bq.kg Oct 2008 53 Bq.kg
A factor in Ceasium-137 concentrations in harbour sediment is also that north eastern ports such as Ramsey and Laxey (no figure is available for Douglas) seem to register higher levels than southern and western ports e.g.:
Ramsey 8.3 Bq.kg Peel 4.0 Bq.kg
The full text of the report can be found at:
See related article which refers to recently published RPII report (commissioned from CEFAS) with recommendations on monitoring aquatic radiation pathways – here:
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
24/07/09
■