CANCER fears have been raised amid fresh concerns about the level of nuclear waste found in Scottish waters.
As delays and costs mount on Britain’s new flagship nuclear project, SNP MP Allan Dorans has unearthed research showing the environmental impact of atomic energy – and has raised fears it could cause cancer.
Dorans has previously raised concerns about the Sellafield nuclear waste processing plant in Cumbria, which pumps waste out into the sea, reaching as far as the Ayrshire coast in his constituency.
While the levels of radiation remain within what the UK authorities consider safe, Dorans (below) has repeatedly raised fears these assessments may be underplaying the health risks of exposure to radioactivity.
Now he has highlighted research from Manchester University which examined how the sea bed conditions around the Sellafield site effectively contain radioactive waste which is then distributed around the coast to Scotland and disturbed by fish, including haddock.
READ MORE: Ayrshire radiation highlighted as Scottish Labour attacked for nuclear support
Dorans said: “While most Government advisors insist that this radioactivity only inches down is safe from transmission into the food chain, the activity of bottom-feeding species and the disturbance that storms and flooding must cause in the sediment suggests to me complacency.”
'Cancer risks of nuclear waste must be investigated'
He has called for a “serious investigation” into the potential health risks of the Sellafield plant and believes leaks from the site have contributed to the higher rate of cancer in Scotland than in Denmark, where nuclear power production was banned in 1985.
“While there are other factors in cancer rates including obesity levels, diet and, of course, smoking levels, living next to and downstream from the most dangerous nuclear site in Europe, with constant releases from the badly maintained and regulated site, needs more serious investigation leading to action to protect the people of my constituency and those across Scotland, the UK and beyond,” said Dorans.
READ MORE: Scottish Labour’s support for nuclear fuel – and the risk to south-west Scotland
He argued that research on the potential health risks of nuclear power were often backed by the Government and accused the industry of failing to take the proper precautions with people’s health.
Dorans said: “Government-funded experts can always be found to insist that leaks like the above were ‘not hazardous'.
“But the onus is not upon us to prove that increased cases of cancer in the area were caused by the leaks.
“Scientists proudly proclaim their commitment to the precautionary principle which requires that they do not act until they know that what they do will not cause harm.
“The evidence here of the history of the nuclear industry in my constituency and across the UK is that they have acted in the full knowledge that it is impossible to prevent that harm.”
Sellafield has been branded Britain’s most dangerous nuclear site and has been the subject of complaints from the governments of both the Isle of Man and the Republic of Ireland.
Sellafield Ltd was approached for comment.
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