NRPB - W20 Environmental Radioactivity Surveillance Programme: Results for 2000

Synopsis

A non-technical summary of this report is available.

This report is the latest in a series in which the results of the NRPB environmental radioactivity surveillance programme are presented, and contains the basic data for the year 2000. Within the main programme, samples of airborne dust and milk are collected routinely within the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, and the activity concentrations of various radionuclides are measured. The radionuclides detected result from nuclear weapons tested in the atmosphere and from the nuclear reactor accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine in 1986, although the programme would be able to detect any other sources of significant contamination. In addition to the main programme, samples of airborne dust and milk have been collected from separate farms in the vicinity of the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in west Cumbria.

The results for the year 2000 were similar to those of recent years with a slight downward trend being observed in activity concentrations in air.

Last reviewed: 29 July 2009