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CLEAN UP OF MoD CONTAMINATED LAND SCRUTINISED BY RADIOACTIVE WASTE WATCHDOG
Press release
8 August 2000
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has access to the expertise necessary to identify radioactivity on its land and to achieve successful clean-up, but there are improvements that should be made to its internal arrangements and documentation to ensure successful remediation in every case. This is the main finding of the Government's independent Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) set out in a report published today.
RWMAC's report was commissioned by MoD against a background of large numbers of surplus defence sites which are being released for civilian reuse, while others are being retained by MoD for similar or different operational uses. Radioactivity is not commonly found on such sites, and other contaminants can pose greater problems, but public concern over the dangers posed needs to be recognised.
In its report, RWMAC indicates that, in the past, MoD land has almost certainly been sold or transferred without the radioactivity, in the form of naturally-occurring radium used for luminising, first being removed from the ground. While it seems unlikely that there is any significant risk of harm to health, RWMAC recommends that MoD scientists should investigate the behaviour of radium in all types of soil conditions to confirm this view.
The RWMAC report suggests a number of ways in which the MoD might seek to improve its existing arrangements. These include changes to the way in which the Ministry's Land Quality Assessment (LQA) programme is arranged, improvements to MoD internal documentation and procedures, and better compilation and keeping of records - for both contaminated land itself and for remediation schemes. Speaking of these recommended improvements, the RWMAC Chairman, Professor Charles Curtis, said :
"We offer this advice constructively as a means of improving existing arrangements."
The report also addresses the Government's proposals for identifying and cleaning up radioactively contaminated land generally. Of this, Professor Curtis went on to say :
"The work carried out leads us to believe that the proposals set out in the Government's 1998 consultation paper on radioactively contaminated land will not apply to most MoD land earmarked for remediation and redevelopment for civilian use. Our view is that the Government needs to think again about the suggestion made in the consultation that the current planning system alone can ensure that land to be redeveloped for new uses will be properly cleaned up. The planning system simply was not designed for this purpose."
RWMAC also identified the need for the Government to provide clear guidance to MoD, and other owners of radioactively contaminated land, as to what standards of remediation are appropriate to ensure the safe future use of sites under all forms of occupancy. Currently there is only ad-hoc use of standards intended for the regulation of radioactive waste management under the Radioactive Substances Act 1993. What is needed are clear national standards and guidance for remediation schemes that can be referred to and applied in all cases.
Notes for editors
RWMAC is the independent body that gives advice to the UK Government, including the devolved administrations for Scotland and Wales, on policy and practices relating to the management of radioactive wastes.
Luminising was a process, carried out extensively by the MoD from the early 20th century to the 1960s, whereby radioactive materials, almost exclusively radium, were incorporated into equipment, such as aircraft dials, to ensure their night-time visibility.
In 1998, the Government carried out a consultation exercise on its proposals for the control and, if necessary, remediation of the UK's radioactively contaminated land : "Control and Remediation of Radioactively Contaminated Land - a consultation paper" (February 1998). The outcome of the consultation has not yet been made public.
The findings of the RWMAC report were submitted as advice to the Minister for Defence Procurement and the Environment Ministers for England, Scotland and Wales in early June 2000.
The text of the report can be found on the RWMAC website
Copies of the report can be purchased from : Publications Sales Centre, Unit 8, Goldthorpe Industrial Estate, Goldthorpe, Rotherham S63 9BL (01709 891318).
Press Enquiries : 0207 944 6260 (RWMAC Secretariat)
