Scientists find more hazardous hotspots on beach

Published on Tuesday 16 September 2008 00:30

SCIENTISTS have pinpointed seven new radioactive hotspots on a public beach in Fife, it emerged yesterday.

Close to the site of a former Second World War airfield, Dalgety Bay has long been suspected of being contaminated by parts from planes which were dismantled prior to parts of the coastline being reclaimed.

Dangerous material such as radium was used to coat the luminous dials of wartime aircraft so that they could be read at night.

It is thought the dials were incinerated along with other waste and later tipped on the land and used to help rebuild the foreshore.

Last year, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) found more than 90 radioactive items on the Fife beach during monitoring. In contrast, the number of particles from Sandside Beach, near the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness, was 50.

The agency has recently widened its monitoring of the beach, so it can assess what risk there is to members of the public being exposed to radioactive particles.

Signs have already been erected to warn the public of potential hazards posed by radioactive contamination, although NHS Fife has moved to reassure people that the risks were very low.

However, people are being advised not to take any materials away and to wash their hands after being on the beach.

Following the latest findings from scientists, local people have voiced fears Dalgety Bay may now be placed on a new register for radioactively contaminated land.