Concern about a doubling of breaches of radiation regulations by hospitals, industries and dentists has been expressed in the annual report of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland.
The increase in non-compliance from six to 12 cases, compared to 1996, underlined the need for vigilance, according to RPII chairwoman Dr Mary Upton. "Because of the hazards inherent in uses of ionising radiation, the Institute will continue to exercise keen vigilance in its role of regulator of such uses."
Incidents involved a broad range of users of ionising radiation, including a large hospital. The breaches included radiation sources being lost or temporarily lost or temporarily unaccounted for. In one instance, construction of radiation-related facilities using X-rays was begun without the required advance approval. Other cases included accidental damage to a radiation source, and failure to hold, or renew, appropriate licences. In three cases offending parties were prosecuted and fined, while in others formal warnings were issued. The report, published yesterday, provides "graphic evidence" of a steep rise in radioactive technetium-99 found in seaweed along the east coast caused by Sellafield. Airborne concentrations of krypton-85 also continue to rise due to the facility in Cumbria, but levels are not considered significant. Further increases may arise from the new THORP plant.
While the technetium increase is "highly objectionable", the RPII notes that the radiation dose being experienced by Irish people caused by the BNFL facility continued to fall slowly, and "now amounts to only a small fraction of the total radiation dose the average person receives from natural and other sources of ionising radiation". The largest everyday source of radiation exposure is radon gas.
While revised building regulations are ensuring new homes are adequately designed, the RPII "greatly regrets that very few owners of existing homes, identified as having high radon levels, have so far taken any action to reduce these levels". It calls for grants to assist those who need to do remedial work.
The RPPI chairwoman, Dr Upton, noted the institute's concern "for a considerable time" about the use of X-ray apparatus by chiropracters, which "because of a legal anomaly and lack of enforcement of existing health regulations, is effectively unregulated". The Government had promised to deal with the problem. Stringent new EU directives on nuclear safety, spent fuel management and radioactive waste will require high standards and, specifically, measures for dealing with radioactive waste generated in this country. "It will almost certainly entail the provision of a central national facility for treatment and storage of radioactive waste," she said.
Fallout from the Chernobyl disaster continues. During 1997, monitoring of sheep in upland areas of the north-west, north-east and south confirmed recurrence of radiocaesium levels "above the level considered suitable for marketing". Moving sheep to lower pastures before slaughter, however, rapidly decreases radioactivity. This was confirmed by monitoring at slaughterhouses while "regular consumption of sheepmeat does not constitute a significant health hazard".
RPII chief executive Dr Tom O'Flaherty said yesterday that a disused radioactive generator being stored at a building owned by the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland at Shrewsbury Road, Dublin, does not pose a risk to the public. Discussions on its disposal are continuing between the PSI and the Department of Education. The PSI believes the Department is responsible for it. It was installed in the 1970s and used for educational purposes. The generator had an RPII licence, was secure despite being in vacant property, and was regularly inspected, he said.
