More nuclear power stations

Aberdeenshixe and during the next four days more than 400 dead oiled btrds were recorded. Most live birds captured by inspectors of the Scottish Sociely for PTevention of Cruelly to Animals in many areas had to be destroyed because of their poor condit,on and the lack of adequate facilities for rehabilitaUon. Although most official bodies continue to doubt the possibilities of rehabilitation, Mr All Robertson (Dundee Parks Depart menl) attempted Io treat several birds. Between 12 and 16 January he took into tare eighteen eiders, six common scolers, two long tailed ducks, one redbreasted merganser, five razorbills and four guillemots, 'all heavily oiled. They were kept in sheltered, quiet surroundings, gwen individual attention and led on whole fish supplemenled with addiuonal v,tamins. As a result, mosl regained weight and a month laler only four had died - an eider, two scorers and a gudlemot. In 'all just over 8,000 b,rd.,~ were destroyed or found dead during this incident, h o m 6.January to 4 February. More than tlurty species were affecled to some degree. Among 2,000 acctualely idenlified from Ihe Tay region, the most common were e,der (36 per cent), guillemot (23 pew cent), razorbills (15 per cenl) and common scoler (11 per cent). Elsewhere, propor IJons were somewhat different, but every where, gulls and suJface leeding ducks were, as usual, only slightly affec led. In the F'c~rth asea the pollution observed ashore could have resulted because the south easl winds of early January earned oil ~lnd oiled birds inshore from well out to sea. In the 'Fay a~ea, however, most of the oiled b, rcLs, seen both before and after the sl,ck were seen near Arbroath on 20 January, were ',dive. ']'his suggests that they had been oiled Ioca.ily, which is supported by the high proportion of eiders (a coastal species) and the low proportion of offshore species, such as the puffin, :n the Iotals. L,ugely because of the good offices of the City of Dundee Museum, more than 600 w',ngs have been collected for the Seabird Group-Royal Society for the Protection of Birds joint survey, and about one hundred eider corpses have been taken by the Department of Zoology of the Llniversity of Aberdeen for further study. Except just north of Arbroath, the beaches were only slightly polluted and because they are not often frequented in .January, no act,on was taken Io clean them. At Arbroath 250 350 m of the slighUy o, led esplanade were sanded. In other areas the beaches will be cleaned mechanically when the pollulion has fir~shed. I thank the many individuals and organizations on whose records and advice this report is based, and Miss Nancy Gordon, Nature Conservancy, Edinburgh for comments on, and addinons to, an earher dra.fl. Deparlment of Biological Sc,ences, The Llniversity, Dundee, DDI 4HN, Scotland.

J . J . D . Greenwood

More Oiled Birds At least 800 birds around the coasts of Marlha's Vineyard, an island off Mas,=achusetts, in the eastern United States, have been oiled in recent weeks. According to event notification reports from the Smithsonian Institution Center for Short lived Phenomena, Cambridge, Massachusetts, the count on I0 February of oiled ducks and seabirds coming ashore on the island's South Beach was: 36

sixty-seven dead loons; ninety-nine dead common eiders; sixty fore alive ones; 397 dead and seventeen live whitewinged scorers; three dead and five live red-breasted mergansers; three dead oil-squaws; sixteen dead murres; eighteen dead common grebes; twelve dead razor.billed auks; four dead herring gulls; eight dead buffle heads; one dead shearwater; twelve dead American golden-eyes; one dead king eider; one hve mute swan. Living birds were cleaned with delergenl; thirty are being kept at the Felix Neck WUdJife Station on the island and the rest have been IJansporled by a LIS Coast Guard helicopter to a Massachusetts Society for Ihe Preventicm of Cruelty to Animals farm. Aerial surveys made between 8 and I0 February in an allempl Io locate the source of the oil were unsuccessful. SLmilarly, surveys of the island's coastline on 9 February revealed no evidence of oil on any of the beaches. Samples of an unusual tan coloured slJ'ingy material taken by the Coast GuaJd from the surf line on the south shore of the island were analysed in Neeclham, Massachusetts by members of the Federal Water Pollution Control Achnlni stration and were found to consist of masses of coccoid algae mixed with marine cl~toms and flagellates. This material was not connected with the bird mortalities. From the information available, FWPCA officials have concluded that the birds probably became involved in an oil slick about 16 km off the coast at about the end of January and beginning of February. The bad weather and high winds prevailing at the t,me are thought to have blown some of the oil and birds towards the coast. Although no oil was found on the beaches, weathered residual oil was found in large ponds behind the beach areas. One possibslity is that this oil may have come from a sunken vessel, or alternatively, from the tanker Keo incident in November 1969.

More Nuclear Power Stations The Central Electricity Generating Board has applied to the MirusU-y of Technology for statutory consent to build two more nuclear power stations. These will be at Portskewett, near Chepslow in Monmouthahire, and at O l ~ u r y in Gloucestershire, both on the shores of the Bristol Channel. This will make a total of six nuclear generating stations operating, under construction or planned in the Bristo] Channel and Severn e s t u a r y - at Portskewetl, Berkeley, Oldbury (two) and H.inkley Point (two). Another is under consideration to be sited at Slourport further up the river. The attractions of the Bristol Channel are that it is within convenient distance of the heavy industrialized areas of South Wades and the West M,~ands, there ,s a very large tidal flow with an abundant supply of cooling water and it is possible to site the stations some distance from the neighbouring centres of population at Cardiff and Newport, Bristol and Gloucester. The existing nuclear generat.i.ng stations have had a good sal'ety record and ,n spite of their concentration in this area the radiation hazard in the sea must be very small. The large tidal flow (the [ida] range in the Bristol Channel is one of the greatest in the world) probably reduces the likeli hood of the hot water effluent being of any biological consequence. The biological conditions in the upper Brbtol Channel are excep~ona.lly well known thanks to the continuing studies by the Department of Zoology of the University of Bristol in the 1930s and 1940s. Even at the most seaward s,te at I-[inkJey Point the salinity regime and

Further acUon must await their reports, which are expected later this year. (Written answer, 28 January). l a w of the sea (con/erenee) Mr Mau.rice Foley, Joint Under SecrelarV of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affabs, told Mr Jeffrey Archer that the Secretary General of the United Nation's inquiry on the convening of a conference on the law of the sea has not yet reached hJs office, and thai what reply should be given is sLLLIbeing considered. (Written answer, 2 February).

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Radioactive effluents (disposal) Apart from hJghJy radioactive waste, which is stored, disposal of liquid radioactive effluents from nuclear installations is by discharge to sea estuaries of rivers. Such disposals can only be made under authorization from the appropriale minlsu'les and authorizations are not given unless the ministries are satisfied that disposals are well withJn safe limits. Mr /clan Willlarqls, Joint Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry o1' Technology, was answering a question from Mr Alex F_,adie. (Written answer, 2 February).

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0 planned • under construction • producing electricity fauna are still essentially estuarine, so that even if there were heating of water in the estuary, few organisms could take advantage of it.

Parliament in Britain Indust~'ial w u t e Mr Arthur Pearuon asked the Secretary of State for Wales whether he wiU consider introducin 8 legislation to give local authorities greater control over the tipping of industrial waste of noaious chemical types into disused quarries, giving rise to poUution of water c o u n t s . Mr George Thomas said a working party on the disposal of refuJe, including incluatrial wute, and a technical commlt'tee on the dbposal of toxic solid waste have been Jet up by the Minister of Houain 8 and Local Government.

Nuclear power installations (radioactive effluents) Replying to a questaon from Mr Alex Eadie, Mr jame~ Hoy, Joint Parliamentary Secretary, Minislry of Agri culture, Fisheries and Food, said his mimstry is satisfied that there have been no measurable effects of radioactive effluents from nuclear power installataons on marine life. In addition to the regular control and monitoring of discharges into the sea, the Minist3-y's scientists undertake extensive investigations into the level and effect of radioactivity in the marine environment. (Written answer, 2 February). Enzyme detergents According to Mr Denis Howell, Minister o1' State for Housing and Local Government, no research on the effects of enzyme detergents in sewage on the marine life of rivers and coastal waters has, to his knowledge, been carried out in Britain. 'The enzymes used in washing powders are pre pared from bacteria normally present in the environment and similar enzymes occur naturaJly in domestic sewage at comparable very low concentrations. The detergent enzymes are rapidly destroyed by bacterial action, he told Mr Gordon Oakes, and there is no reason to believe that they have any effect on marine life. (Written answer, 3 February). Water poUution (phosphate) The proportion of phosphate in household and heavy duty detergents varies between 15 and 40 per cent and averages about 30 per cent. The Standing Technical Committee on Synthetic Detergents has not so far found any significant poUution problems from this source in Britain and has not recommended a reduction in the proportion of phosphate in detergents. Mr Anthony Crosland, Secretary of State for Local Government and Regional Planning, was answering a question from MrsJoyce Butler. (Written answer, 3 February). Oil and petrol (spillage) On the question of introducing legislation to prevent spillage of oil and petrol into rivers and other waterways, Mr Denis HoweU told Mrs J o y c e Butler that it is already an offence knowingly to poUute rivers and streams, but his ministry is considering whether any changes are required. He added that as no legislation can prevent spillages entirely, he is taking expert advice on the guidance which he might offer to Ioc.,d authorities on the means of dealing with a spillage when it occurs. (Written answer, 3 February). 37