Post-Chernobyl monitoring reports published

In 1986, an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the former USSR (now Ukraine) released large quantities of radioactivity into the atmosphere. Some of this was deposited on certain upland areas of the UK where sheep are farmed.

In order to protect the health of consumers, restrictions were placed on the movement and sale of sheep from areas of the UK where contamination levels in sheep meat were over 1,000 Becquerels (a measure of radioactivity) per kilogramme, the safety limit set in 1986.

A live monitoring technique is used, where an external monitor is held against the sheep, giving a count rate which is then converted to a concentration (bq/kg). To allow for inherent variability in live monitoring results, a Working Action Level of 645 bq/kg is applied (rather than 1000 bq/kg). This has been set so there is only a 1 in 40 chance of a sheep above the limit giving a monitor reading below.

In 1986, almost 9000 farms were under these restrictions in the UK. Since then the levels of radioactivity have fallen in some of the affected areas and the number of farms still under restriction in Cumbria, Scotland and Wales, the areas covered by the three reports, is now 371.

Based on the results obtained, the reports propose that none of the farms still under restriction in Cumbria and Wales should have their restrictions lifted in the near future. In Scotland, the results led to three farms being released from restrictions in January 2007.

The Agency plans further surveys so farms can be released from restrictions when the levels of radioactivity in sheep are within safety limits.