Radioactive Waste Dumped in Sea in ‘50s

After years of vehement denials, the government admitted it dumped radioactive waste in the Irish Sea in the 1950s. The low- to intermediate-level contaminated waste was discarded in a deep depression in the sea floor six miles off the coast of Scotland. “Ministers have recently been made aware that small quantities of . . . contaminated waste were dumped in the 1950s,� a spokesman for the government’s Scottish Office said. He was responding to a report in the Guardian newspaper that up to 2 tons of waste, in heavy metal drums encased in concrete, were disposed of with the Scottish Office’s authorization. “Prior to the discovery, ministers were not aware it had been dumped,� the spokesman said.