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During 1969 surveyors of the Board of Trade carried out 2,267 inspections of ships to ensure
that they complied with requirements of the Oil in Navigable Waters Acts. There were 80 prosecutions
for unlawful discharges of oil, resulting in 77 convictions. Forty convictions related to
offences by British registered ships; they included the first successful prosecution for an offence
committeed outside United Kingdom territorial waters.
The Report of the Advisory Committee includes surveys of oiled sea birds and their rehabilitation,
the general situation of oil pollution round Great Britain, and the latest information
relating to work carried out in all these fields by the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative
Organisation (IMCO).
A recent television programme on oil pollution in coastal waters included a reference to the
deep water oil terminal at Milford Haven where the local amenities are preserved through the good
management of the oil terminals. The reception of oil super tankers does not necessarily mean oil
pollution.
The amount of oil polluting the sea is not accurately known but the Royal Commission
estimates half a million tons from tank cleaning operations on board tankers and a further threequarters
of a million tons from spillage and bilge water from ships.
(d) Radioactive Wastes
The hazards of radioactive wastes are so serious that very great care needs to be exercised
over their disposal. Highly active solid waste is stored in concrete. Less highly active waste is
burnt or buried at selected sites or is dumped at sea in deep water (over 2,000 fathoms) beyond
the continental Shelf in such a way that it does not escape. Liquid wastes are stored, or if their
radioactivity is very low, they can be discharged without risk.
The Radioactive Substances Act, 1960, controls the accumulation and disposal of radioactive
wastes and as from the 1st December, 1963, persons keeping or using radioactive material
have, unless exempted, been required to register with the Ministry of Housing and Local Government*
and obtain authorisation from the Minister for the disposal, including discharge into waters,
of radioactive waste. The disposal of radioactive waste on or from premises on a site licensed
under the Nuclear Installations Act must be authorised by both that Ministry* and the Ministry of
Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
The nine nuclear power stations currently operating are -
Berkley and Oldbury Gloucestershire
Bradwell Essex
Hinkley Point "A" Somerset
Traws-fynydd Merioneth
Dungeness "A" Kent
Sizewell Suffolk
Wylf Anglesey
Hunterston "A" Ayrshire
Under construction and due to become operational are -
Dungeness "B" Kent
Hinkley Point "B" Somerset
Hartlepool Co. Durham
Heysham Lancashire
Hunterston "B" Ayrshire
The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food conducts limited monitoring of coastal
waters for radioactivity. The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution 1971 reports that
these checks in 1968 show that in many areas there was no radiation exposure at all from
radioactive wastes and where there was measurable radiation it was within internationally
accepted limits.
An article appeared in a London evening newspaper in August 1970 expressing grave concern
over the dumping of toxic and radioactive wastes and included a map of the United Kingdom
showing "Britain's Dumping Grounds" (8).
(e) Household Refuse
An estimated 14 million tons of domestic refuse are collected annually by local authorities
in England and Wales; this amounts to about 2 lbs. per person per day (2).
* (Now Department of the Environment).