Annual Report for 2010/11 and Forward Programme - Sellafield Ltd

SSEM/2011/4730 June 2011The monitoring and analysis data were reviewed at joint regulator workshops on 28 June2007 and 25 November 2008. These workshops concluded that the alpha rich particles aremost significant regarding assessment of risks to members of the public. Prior to the start ofthe 2009/10 monitoring programme, the HPA had reviewed all the available data and advisedthat their original advice remained valid.In May 2008, the EA asked HPA to undertake a detailed assessment of the health risks topeople using the beaches along the Cumbrian coast from contaminated objects on thebeaches. The resulting report has recently been published (April 2011). The assessmentaddressed the likelihood that people using the beaches for various activities could come intocontact with a radioactive object and, in the unlikely event that an individual does come intocontact with such an object, what the resulting radiation doses and associated health riskswould be.The report concluded that the overall health risks for beach users are very low, andsignificantly lower than other risks that people accept when using the beaches (such asdrowning) and reaffirmed the original advice given in 2007 that, “no special precautionaryactions are required at this time to limit access to or use of the beaches”.In a letter from HPA to EA in April 2011 it was stated that, “”More details about the assessment of risk (dose) to members of the public and how risk willcontinue to be assessed as new data becomes available are presented in Section 5.© Nuclear Decommissioning Authority 2011. 16