Our ref: EN00333
Your ref: 0090610/iv, 10th June 2009
Mr/Mrs Dowding
E-mail sent to: request-13193-
[email address]
7 July 2009
Dear Mr/Mrs Dowding
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION
We refer to your request dated 10 June under the Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) requesting the following information:
Any ODA directive or similar requiring specific amendments to the risk
assessments undertaken (including for fire, flooding, explosion and
similar disruptive events that might result in uncontrolled dispersion of
on-site radioactive materials) in accordance with the Construction
(Design and Management) Regulations 2007 for existing and new
contracts committed to on the Olympic Park Development Site.
We note that you have requested the above information under Section 1 of the
Freedom of Information Act (FOIA); however, considering the nature of the
information which you have requested, we believe that the information is
environmental information as defined by the Environmental Information
Regulations 2004 (EIR). As such, we have interpreted your request in terms of
the EIR and not the FOIA.
The Olympic Delivery Authority is a statutory authority established under the London Olympic Games and Paralympic
1
Games Act 2006.
We do not hold information of the description specified in your request. The
ODA has issued no directives to cover on site operations with regard to
radiological materials. All work with regard to radiological contamination has
been undertaken in accordance with the prevailing legislation and guidance.
Accordingly, we regret that we are therefore unable to communicate the
information to you.
However, we can advise you of the legislation which the ODA has complied
with in relation to the radioactive material found on the Olympic Park.
The
Ionising Radiation Regulations 1999: These regulations were invoked
whenever radioactive contamination was discovered or suspected. Risk
assessments and method statements intended primarily to ensure that
workers and members of the public were not affected during the course of the
works were prepared and enacted and the relevant regulator (the Health and
Safety Executive) were kept informed in accordance with the legislative
requirements.
The
Radioactive Contaminated Land Regulations 2006 require that if
certain radiation dose thresholds are likely to be exceeded because of
radioactively contamination then remediation (‘intervention’) of the affected
area must be carried out by an owner or developer. To date, no discoveries of
contamination on the Olympic Park have led to calculated radiation doses at
or above the relevant thresholds; in fact, calculated and measured doses have
both been significantly lower than the relevant thresholds for these
regulations.
The
Radioactive Substances Act 1993 requires that the ‘keeping and use’
and the ‘accumulation and disposal’ of radioactive materials and waste
respectively be permitted under the Act. The Act is not concerned with the
‘presence’ of radioactive contamination in circumstances encountered at the
site, so in the context of the Olympic Park the Act is only invoked when
radioactive waste is accumulated or disposed of. ODA contractors hold a
permit under this Act for the accumulation and disposal of a small quantity of
radioactive waste which is destined for disposal off-site.
Exemptions of material made by Statutory Instruments (Exemption Orders)
under the terms of this Act are to the effect that radiochemical concentrations
below certain thresholds, although defined as radioactive, do not require
permitting. The radiological consequences of these ‘exempt’ materials in
terms of radiation doses to members of the public have been calculated to be
trivial. However, we can inform you that the ODA, with the necessary permit
from the Environment Agency, will dispose of a small amount of discrete non-
exempt material to the licensed Low Level Radioactive Waste Repository near
Drigg in West Cumbria.
The
Town and Country Planning Acts (Various Dates) under these Acts, in
terms of radiological protection definitions, activities at the Olympic Park
constitute a ‘practice’. For the types of ‘practice’ in question (land
redevelopment) the Acts are invoked to ensure that post works (development)
the radiation doses to a member of the public are below certain thresholds.
The Planning Authority and the local Environmental Health Officers have been
routinely updated on the progress of works, via plans and risk assessments
such that they could be satisfied that this condition would be met. Specifically,
the ODA (through its contractors) have submitted a number of Site
Remediation Strategies (SRM) and Remediation Methodology Statements
(RMS) to the ODA’s Planning Decisions Team (PDT) for their approval. All of
these submissions are publicly available on the ODA PDT website
(
www.london2012.com/planning). You can also contact the ODA PDT
directly for assistance to find these documents on the published register
maintained by ODA PDT.
http://www.london2012.com/planning/contact-us.php
We trust this you find this information useful, however if you are not satisfied
with the response to your request and wish to make a complaint, you should
write to The Information Officer, Olympic Delivery Authority, One Churchill
Place, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5LN. Please state detailed grounds for
your complaint.
If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. Generally, the
Information Commissioner will not make a decision unless you have
exhausted the complaint procedure provided by the ODA. The Information
Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Yours faithfully
Information Officer
Olympic Delivery Authority
