Fife Council is ”losing patience” with the Ministry of Defence over radiation at Dalgety Bay.
The local authority has demanded the MoD take immediate action over contamination at the shore, describing the situation as ”unbearable”.
Since the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) started an intensive survey of the area beside Dalgety Bay Sailing Club on September 12, 430 sources of radiation have been recovered.
One piece was 10 times more radioactive than anything previously discovered at the beach and would have caused burns if it had been picked up.
Another ”significant source” was located this month, which has not been measured but could be even more dangerous than anything yet discovered.
SEPA has described the radiation as posing a ”significant risk” to the public. An expert told The Courier there was concern because the particles were breaking up, increasing the potential for them to be inhaled or ingested, and cause serious health problems including an increased risk of cancer.
Councillor George Kay, who chairs the council’s police, fire and safety committee, said: ”We are all losing patience with the MoD. The situation at the beach has been going on too long.
”For the people of Dalgety Bay this is an unbearable situation. SEPA are very keen to have an appropriate long-term remediation plan in place but the MoD appear to be dragging their heels. We don’t think this is good enough.”
The committee is set to discuss the issue on Thursday.
There has been increasing political pressure on the MoD to act over the contamination and the council has described the safety of the public using the beach as of ”paramount importance”.
Mr Kay joined members of south west Fife area committee last week, when SEPA updated councillors on the situation at Dalgety Bay.
”The feeling of the meeting was that it is time for definite action to resolve this. We cannot have public health potentially being put at risk,” said Mr Kay.
”We are supportive of SEPA in all their efforts to date and I call on the MoD to take action now.”
The radiation is being caused by radium-226 from old aircraft dials. The radioactive metal was used to make luminous paint which allowed pilots to read aircraft instruments during hours of darkness.
SEPA’s theory is that the clinker was landfilled at the headland and is being washed into the estuary as the land erodes.
The Health Protection Agency is working on a public health risk assessment for the site.
According to the report to Thursday’s committee meeting, the MoD has stated it will continue to support SEPA in the disposal of any items recovered.