Radioactive British sheep shows environmental legacy of Chernobyl twenty years on

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 26th Apr 2006

Commenting on the twentieth anniversary of the Chernobyl catastrophe, Liberal Democrat Environment Shadow Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:

"The human and environmental cost of the Chernobyl accident has been long lasting and will go on for many generations. Recent reports indicate that the human cost has been seriously underestimated.

"The impact in Britain may have been less dramatic, but most will be surprised to learn that a number of Britain's upland farms remain under 'quarantine' where sheep still cannot enter the food chain and are bred to do little more than beautify the hillsides.

"There are 200,000 sheep which are radioactive because they graze land where the soil is still contaminated by the fallout from Chernobyl.

"Although the arguments against the new generation of nuclear power stations that Tony Blair seems determined to push ahead with are inherently economic, this anniversary today is a useful reminder of the legacy of the Chernobyl accident, and the risks inherent with the use of nuclear power."

Related Links:

Comment by Greenpeace

Food Standards Agency reports into sheep at 374 farms in the UK