EPA - Ireland's Environment, An Integrated Assessment - 2020

Chapter 14: Environment, Health and Wellbeing Figure 14.9  Non-ionising radiation and the electromagnetic spectrum (Source: EPA) OSPAR Monitoring of Radiation in the Marine Environment Tracking discharges of radioactive substances and concentrations of radionuclides in the marine environment is covered in the OSPAR Convention. Ireland is one of 16 Contracting Parties to the 1992 Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic (OSPAR Convention). The Oslo- Paris Commission’s 2010-2020 Strategy for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic has identified five areas of interest to maintain the region’s ecosystem. One of these involves preventing the pollution of the North-East Atlantic by ionising radiation through progressive and substantial reductions in discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive substances. The EPA collates and reports data on annual discharges of radioactive substances from licensed facilities and annual concentrations of radionuclides in the marine environment. While levels of artificial radioactivity in the Irish marine environment remain detectable, they are low and broadly consistent with levels reported previously, posing no risk to the health of the Irish population. 373