David Griffiths from the Environment Agency's Nuclear Regulation Group was our guest at the spring 2011 NAG meeting to reveal the untold story of how radioactive discharges from the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) have reduced over the last forty years.  Using data from AWE and the Ministry of Defence which has never before been presented in public, David gave a fascinating presentation about efforts to drive down the levels of radioactive material released from AWE sites. (A copy of the Powerpoint slideshow with graphs and illustrations used during the talk is available to download at the bottom of the page).

David began by explaining that the Environment Agency has the responsibility of regulating discharges from nuclear licensed sites in England and Wales, but that at many of these sites there are as many non-nuclear environmental hazards posed by chemicals and wastes as there are nuclear hazards.  These are also controlled by the Environment Agency, which also has a role to play in advising site operators on construction programmes, flooding issues, and reducing resource usage.

The Agency's aim is not just to ensure that site operators comply with permitted discharge limits, but also to drive down the quantity of radioactive materials released to the environment by securing improvements to production processes and equipment.  AWE has made good progress in this respect over recent years and, according to David, “is probably the closest to achieving zero discharges than any other operator in the sector”.  Since the 1960s the nuclear industry has changed from being largely unregulated to a very heavily controlled and closely monitored industry,  with pressure for improvements in recent years driven by the European Union, the Ospar Treaty, and a 'best practicable environmental option / best available technology' approach to regulation.

We are pleased that these discharges are currently at a very low level. However, we are aware that this may not be a permanent state of affairs, and therefore suggest that limits for disposal of alpha emitters to air are retained for future radioactive waste disposal authorisations for AWE.