The long-awaited task force report on radioactive dumping in the Irish Sea is to be presented to the Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, within days.
Dr Woods confirmed last night that the report was completed and would be circulated when the Department had arranged for printing. The task force was established in 1997 following revelations by Britain that documents had come to light which showed that radioactive waste had been dumped in the Beaufort Dyke in the north Irish Sea during the 1950s.
There were also other incidents of dumping in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s in other areas around the British coast.
In July 1997 the British government admitted that radioactive waste was secretly disposed of down a 300-metre deep munitions dump close to busy shipping lanes in the Irish Sea.
The Scottish Office authorised the dumping of low-level waste from private companies, including defence contractors, during the 1950s and early 1960s.
Up to two tonnes of waste, in heavy metal drums encased in concrete, was dumped in the Beaufort Dyke, a seven-mile munitions dump six miles from Scotland.
The report was due for completion last year but was delayed as new information came to light.