Radiation
Radiation Monitoring in Stirling
Stirling Council is a member of the Standing Conference of Local Authorities in the Forth Estuary (SCLAFE). Members of SCLAFE include City of Edinburgh, Clackmannanshire Council, FifeCouncil, Falkirk Council, Midlothian Council, Stirling Council and West Lothian Council. All of the authorities are represented by elected members and Officers of the Council.
SCLAFE was set up for the purpose of
- Providing information regarding and to co-ordinate the obtaining of meaningful data on environmental radioactivity in and around the Forth Estuary and to collate such data.
- Providing a vehicle for presenting an independent assessment of that data to the communities of the participating authorities.
- Auditing information published by Government Departments and site operators.
- Discussing where necessary results of the monitoring and auditing with SEPA, the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (NII) and other relevant agencies.
- Creating a system which would respond to any increase in environmental radioactivity with fast, reliable information relevant to the environment of the communities in the Forth Estuary area
- Independently assessing trends over a long term period in background levels of radiation in the Forth Estuary area.
Monitoring has been carried out in Stirling Council’s area by Edinburgh Radiation Consultants for several years, initially in the Blairdrummond area and now in Springkerse. The results of the monitoring have consistently shown that the radiation measured is well within the usual background levels which would be expected for this area. Although the major portion of the radiation measured is generally the natural background due to the thorium and uranium decay series, with a smaller additional component due to the presence of cosmic radiation, there is normally a small additional component due to the presence of radiocaesium and radiocobalt from civil and military sources.
Further information can be obtained from the following links:
- Health and Safety - Nuclear Installations Inspectorate (part of the Health and Safety Executive), which is responsible mainly for regulating worker’s safety and waste storage
- Food Standards Agency, - which is responsible for food safety -
- Health Protection Agency - Radiation Protection Division, which advises the Government on radiological protection
- Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is responsible for regulating the disposal of radioactive waste from nuclear licensed sites and from “small user” premises.
