Environmental protection

Radioactivity - Discharges of radioactivity

Radioactive waste resulting from practices involving radioactive substances is discharged into the environment from nuclear licensed sites and non-nuclear operators such as universities and hospitals.

Discharges may be in the form of gases, mists and dusts or liquids. Site operators are required to ensure that the authorised discharge limits are met.

All radioactive discharges in the UK are regulated under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993 to ensure that radioactivity discharged remains well within internationally agreed levels which are designed to protect both human health and the environment.

Such regulation is carried out by the Environment Agency (EA) in England and Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland, and the Environment and Heritage Service of the Department of Environment in Northern Ireland.

EA, SEPA and the Department of Health (advised by the Food Standards Agency) conduct regular surveys of the UK terrestrial and marine environments which continue to show that discharges are within the appropriate limits.

The Government is committed to progressive and substantial reductions in radioactive discharges.


UK strategy for radioactive discharges

The UK Strategy for radioactive discharges aims, in part, to deliver the UK’s obligations under the OSPAR Radioactive Substances Strategy, in respect of progressive and substantial reductions in radioactive discharges. The objective of the OSPAR strategy is to prevent pollution of the maritime area covered by the OSPAR Convention (Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic) from ionising radiation.

In particular, the OSPAR objective for 2020 is to reduce discharges to levels where the additional concentrations in the marine environment above historic levels, resulting from such discharges, are close to zero.

The first UK strategy for radioactive discharges 2001-2020 was published in July 2002.


Proposed new UK strategy for radioactive discharges 2006-2030

The 2002 UK strategy has been revised and updated and a draft of the new strategy is available for public consultation until 30 September 2008.

The UK is obliged to produce a national report for the next OSPAR Ministerial meeting in 2010 and the revised strategy will provide this. It is also an assessment of the position reached since 2002 and of future projections, to inform UK Ministers, regulators and industry.

The revised strategy reaffirms the UK Government’s commitment to the progressive reduction of:

  • radioactive discharges and discharge limits;
  • human exposure to ionising radiation arising from radioactive discharges; and

  • concentrations of radionuclides in the marine environment resulting from radioactive discharges. 


Statutory guidance on the regulation of radioactive discharges into the environment from nuclear licensed sites

The statutory guidance will be a vehicle through which the Environment Agency can implement the UK strategy for radioactive discharges in England and Wales, which in turn implements the UK’s obligations in respect of the OSPAR strategy.

A public consultation was held on an earlier draft of the statutory guidance in October 2000, however, this guidance was never finalised. New draft guidance is now the subject of a consultation exercise in conjunction with the UK strategy for radioactive discharges 2006-2030.

Statutory Guidance from Scottish Ministers to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency was consulted on in October 2005, and published in February 2008. This guidance covers the same fundamental principles as those in our proposed Statutory Guidance to the Environment Agency.

Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat PDF documents.

Page last modified: 18 June 2008

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs