Ex-PM demands clean-up timetable for radium

FORMER prime minister Gordon Brown is demanding a timetable for the clean-up of a radiation-affected beach in his constituency.

The Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath MP has handed Defence Secretary Philip Hammond a dossier he says highlights the risks at Dalgety Bay in Fife.

The contamination is thought to stem from radium-coated instrument panels used on military aircraft that were incinerated and put in landfill in the area after the Second World War.

Mr Brown said: “We have asked the Ministry of Defence and [the Scottish Environment Protection Agency] to change its investigation plan to include a requirement that clean-up work start immediately after the May 2013 monitoring and investigation deadline is reached,” Mr Brown said. “Only a decision to fund remedial action will allay the fears of local residents.”

Last October a lump of contaminated metal was found on the beach, prompting the closure of part of the foreshore.

Earlier this month it emerged Sepa and the Defence Infrastructure Organisation had agreed a plan to treat the bay.