Shore signs to warn public of radioactive contamination risk

Dalgety Bay, on the north shore of the Firth of Forth, is home to Scotland's largest sailing club, and is an expanding commuter community.

The contamination of the shore area is believed to have been caused by radium from the dumped luminous dials of RAF aircraft from nearby Donibristle air base at the end of the Second World War.

Following an assessment of the pollution on the beach, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is now recommending that signs be put up on the beach and two further stages of work be undertaken.

These will include the identification of the source of contamination and investigating means of removing it.

The recommendations come after the SEPA spent 50,000 examining the risks of being exposed to the radioactive contamination on the beach.

The study aimed to assess the chances of people swallowing or breathing in the particles and whether warning signs should be displayed.

Last year, SEPA officers 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.

However, SEPA claimed the particles at Sandside Beach had a different kind of radioactivity than those which had been found in Fife.

Last night, the Dalgety Bay Forum, which includes advisers from the Scottish Executive, NHS Fife, Fife Council, the Health Protection Agency, SEPA and the Ministry of Defence, agreed to continue the monitoring and removal of contamination from the beach.

A SEPA spokesman yesterday insisted the risk caused by the contamination to the public was "low".

He added: "The signs are a precautionary measure based on a draft screening assessment of the contamination which was detected and removed from part of the beach last month.

"This recommendation will be reviewed following the completion of the screening report.

"SEPA considers that signs would allow the public to be informed of the potential hazard on the beach.

"It has also been recommended that work be undertaken to identify and quantify the source of the contamination, and to investigate how it can be remedied.

"In the interim, we have agreed to continue monitoring and removing contamination from the beach to protect public health and to provide additional information."

A spokesman for Dalgety Bay Sailing Club, which is based nearby, said he did not believe members had any reason to be concerned.

He added: "We as a club have been liaising closely with SEPA for many years regarding the presence of low level radioactive particles which have been found on the foreshore.

"The levels of contamination are low, and the risk to the public is negligible. It is not considered to be significant enough to require any restriction to the sailing club, the foreshore, the sea or surrounding areas."

Earlier this year, NHS Fife moved to reassure people that the risks were very low. It said there was no need to restrict access, but advised anyone handling material from the beach to wash their hands afterwards.