The Celtic League has urged the Manx government to rethink a plan which may allow aggregate extraction from the sea-bed off the north east coast of the Isle of Man.
The area is directly adjacent to the discharge pipes from the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant which pumped large quantities of radioactively contaminated material into the sea for half a century.
The League has raised the issue with the Manx government and has also urged the Irish government to make its voice heard in relation to any sea-bed activity in this area which could potentially mobilise settled radioactive contaminants.
Copies of the correspondence to the Manx and Irish government which were forwarded together with graphs of contamination levels in the area are set out below:
"Mr. Tony Brown MHK Chief Minister Isle of Man government Government Buildings Douglas Isle of Man
Dear Chief Minister,
I write to express our organisation's concern at the news that the Isle of Man government has apparently authorised exploratory works which may lead to sea-bed aggregate extraction off the North east of the Isle of Man.
The area to Mann's north east, and particularly the sea-bed, is potentially one of the most radioactively contaminated marine environments in the world due to the nefarious activities of the British nuclear industry and the reprocessing plant at Sellafield in particular.
Any disturbance of the sea bed in this area should only be contemplated if the government is quite satisfied no risk will occur via the remobilisation of settled radioactively contaminated particles.
I hope that the the Isle of Man government will seriously consider any risk involved before allowing a process to go ahead which could possibly increase risks in the eastern sea area off the Isle of Man and in the Irish sea generally.
I attach graphs (compiled by the British governments MAFF agency twenty five years ago) which show the contamination by one radioactive element when it was at its peak. This clearly indicates the higher concentration of pollutants from Sellafield in this area. I would also refer you to the recent 'glitch' in the decline of technetium levels which, in correspondence to us, the Food Standards Agency say may have been caused by a remobilisation of contaminated material.
Yours sincerely"
"An Taoiseach Mr. Bertie Ahern Government Buildings Kildare Street Dublin 2 Ireland
Dear Mr Ahern,
I draw your attention to the concerns we have recently expressed to the Isle of Man government concerning possible aggregate extraction in the sea-bed area off the north east of the Isle of Man.
Due to the nefarious activities of the British nuclear industry and the Sellafield reprocessing plant in particular, the area in question is the seriously contaminated by nuclear waste.
Any disturbance of contaminated sediment in this area must increase the risks of a remobilisation of settled waste and even radioactive particles. I do trust that your government will join with us in expressing concern to both the Manx and UK governments about any substantial disturbance of the sea-bed in areas which the UK has contaminated with pollutants.
You will see from the correspondence that the Celtic League did receive confirmation from the UK authorities in 2006 that an unexpected increase in levels of one radioactive contaminant technetium was caused by the remobilisation of fine sediment such as mud or silt.
I enclose graphs (compiled by the UK authorities some years ago) which indicate the higher levels of contamination in the area which is currently the subject of possible aggregate works.
Yours sincerely"
More nuclear related articles can be found by using the search engine on Celtic News.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League
21/04/07
■