Environmental Radioactivity Monitoring Programme - Request for Information

SEPA is responsible for the regulation of radioactive waste disposal in Scotland, which is controlled in accordance with the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations 2018 (EASR). Operators of premises disposing of radioactive waste to the environment, such as liquid and gaseous discharges, require authorisations under EASR. In order to ensure that authorised discharges do not cause any unacceptable risk to members of the public or the environment, SEPA carries out environmental radioactivity monitoring programme and 5-yearly radiological habits surveys around all nuclear licensed sites in Scotland under separate contracts. The monitoring programme also includes monitoring the effects of discharges from the non-nuclear industry.

SEPA also has a responsibility to determine levels of anthropogenic radionuclides in the wider environment. This contributes to a baseline dataset for reference purposes following an accidental release of radioactivity into the environment and to satisfy requirements under Article 8 (5) of the Agreement between the Government of the UK and NI and the European Atomic Energy Community for Cooperation on the Safe and Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy to assess the level of public radiation exposure from the diet. The environmental radioactivity monitoring programme includes monitoring which is remote from nuclear sites in order to satisfy these requirements.