The Celtic League have asked the United Kingdom Environment Minister, Hilary Benn, if his Department has been able to ascertain the cause of a mysterious rise in levels of iodine-129 in milk from a farm near Sellafield.

Iodine-129 is one of a number of harmful contaminants released into the marine environment from the plant but it is generally assumed that the quantities of the product released would dissipate harmlessly.

The UK Environment Agency says that there is "no obvious explanation" for the increase.

Suggestions that it may be caused by 'historic' residue from events such as the Windscale fire have also been down-played by Sellafield management.

Many gallons of milk on local farms had to be poured away after the 1957 Fire but Sellafield say that only small amounts of iodine-129 were released then, the majority of radioactive iodine pollution from the plutonium Windscale pile reactor was iodine-131.

(DEFRA letter below):

"Dear Minister,

I understand that in April the Environment Agency confirmed that "concentrations of iodine-129 in samples of milk from a local farm (near Sellafield) have significantly increased in recent months". They also said that there was "no obvious explanation for the increase" which was apparently confined to one farm.

Can we ask if DEFRA or the EA have been able to ascertain the cause of the increase and if not what steps are being taken to provide an explanation?

Yours faithfully,

J B Moffatt"

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J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League

26/05/08

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