Filed for the Guardian, 26 March 1990

Filed for The Guardian, 26 March 1990

The silt left in the North Wales coastal town of Towyn after last month's floods is contaminated by radioactivity more than ten times higher than Government safety limits, according to an independent analysis.

Dr Bob Wheaton of Edinburgh Radiation Consultants says that pollution by dangerous materials like plutonium, americium and caesium has "most probably" been caused by the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria.

His report, which was commissioned for an HTV television programme shown last night on S4C, the welsh language channel, has prompted an urgent Government investigation. Although the National Radiological Protection Board said yesterday that there was "a very small risk" to the public, the Welsh Office issued a statement saying that there was "no danger".

Dr Wheaton's analysis shows that eight out of 14 samples collected from the streets, houses and gardens of Towyn in the first half of this month contained concentrations of americium more than ten times higher than the NRPB's 'generalised derived limits' applicable to urban areas.

He says that the limits, for plutonium will "quite probably" also be exceeded. If levels exceed a quarter of these limits, the NRPB recommend further investigation.

"These values obtained suggest that, when the sediment dries out, there is a possible radiation hazard due to the inhalation of radioactive dust containing the isotopes of americium and plutonium", Dr Wheaton concluded.

A spokesman for the NRPB said that its calculations indicated that workers clearing up Towyn could receive an extra radiation dosage amounting to "a few per cent" of that which they would receive naturally. Members of the public would receive 1-2 per cent of their natural dosage.

There was a "very small risk" to the public, he said. He pointed out that generalised derived limits were only meant to be applied where there was likely to be continual exposure, whereas the flooding of Towyn was a once-off event.

A spokesman for the Welsh Office said that the contamination "presented no cause for public concern". The limits were for an urban environment "rather than a semi-rural area where tolerances are much greater".

"We've taken action to examine in detail the situation in Towyn by asking Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food scientists to take samples for analysis and to report its results which they should be able to do by the end of the week", he said.

"They will also ascertain the destination of sediments following the clean-up and consider the effects on farmland. The Welsh Office therefore stresses that there is no danger to the public and that it will continue to update its information by close monitoring of radioactive isotopes in the Irish Sea."

Dr Carl Iwan Clowes, a public health consultant with Clwyd Health Authority said that the authority had been in discussion with the Welsh Office about the matter. He wished to reserve judgement on the health implications of the contamination until MAFF's studies had become available.