Distribution of caesium-137 in British coastal waters

The safe discharge of wastes into the sea depends upon achieving adequate dilution of the effluent, otherwise inshore biological reserves may be damaged. Water in the north-east Irish Sea can be identified because of its content of radioactive caesium emanating from the Windscale nuclear fuel processing plant. A survey shows how closely this water hugs the coasts as it travels across the Irish Sea and along the west and north coasts of Scotland. Inshore waters receive almost all our effluents and this report suggests that the dilution capacity of the sea may be far less than is supposed.