Public given a say on radioactive substances

Local authorities, environmental campaigners and the general public are being urged to have their say on the control of radioactive substances.


Public given their say on radioactive substances

Local authorities, environmental campaigners and the general public are being urged to have their say on the control of radioactive substances.

The Environment Agency is currently consulting on two documents which outline how it will regulate the control of such substances.

Radioactive Substances Regulation Environmental Principles (REPs) and Assessment of Best Available Techniques (BAT) are available on its website for comment.

The consultation has been timed to coincide with a Government consultation on the guidance it issues to the Environment Agency about the regulation of radioactive discharges into the environment, and on the draft UK strategy for radioactive discharges.

Both sets of consultations will run until the end of September.

The Environment Agency said: “We want everybody, including local authorities, non-governmental pressure groups and the general public, to understand and be able to common on how we intend to fulfil our responsibilities.”

REPs is an updated version of a document already being used by Environment Agency staff to include new developments in Government policy and introduce the concept of Best Available Techniques.

It is intended to provide a standard framework for regulating radioactive substances, whether from nuclear sources, or non-nuclear sources such as hospitals.

BAT will replace two existing documents from early 2009.

It is being introduced by ministers to meet UK obligations under the OSPAR Treaty, a document signed by the UK in 1998 which prevent marine pollution from radioactive sources, and ultimately reduce pollution from artificial radioactive sources to almost zero.

The Environment Agency consultations can be found here.

The Government consultations can be found here.

Kate Martin

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