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A new report published today confirms that levels of radioactivity found in foodstuffs, and doses from nuclear site discharges, are well below internationally recommended public safety limits.

The Report Radioactivity in Food and the Environment, 1999 (RIFE-5) is published jointly by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA). It contains the results of SEPA's and the FSA's monitoring programme for the calendar year 1999. The report shows that UK consumers' exposure to radiation via the foodchain remains well below national and international limits.

The highest dose in Scotland was attributable to liquid discharges from Sellafield, which was received by a group of high-rate fish and shellfish consumers in the Dumfries and Galloway area. Their radiological dose was 0.028 mSv, which was lower than the estimate for 1998 of 0.048 mSv. The reduction was largely due to a general decline in radionuclide concentrations in Scottish seafood. The internationally agreed safety limit for members of the general public is 1 mSv.

The report also shows that for the majority of the population natural radionuclides are by far the most important source of exposure and less than 5% of their dose is from artificial sources.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The report shows that authorised discharges from any single nuclear site resulted in a maximum exposure to the Scottish public of only around 5% of the internationally recommended dose limit.

2. SEPA's monitoring programme sets out to determine levels of man-made radioactivity within the environment. The foodstuffs collected as part of SEPA's programme act both as indicators of the health of the environment and as verification that the levels of radioactivity present within foodstuffs have low radiological significance.

3. a "mSv" (millisievert) is a unit of radiation dose. I mSv is less than half the average annual dose from natural radiation in the UK.

4. Copies of Radioactivity in Food and the Environment 1999 (RIFE-5) are available from SEPA Public Affairs, Erskine Court, The Castle Business Park, Stirling FK9 4TR. Tel 01786 457700 and on the SEPA Website