Winfrith AEA - Arish Mell Radioactive Effluent Sea-Disposal Pipeline 

In 1959, a six mile dual-core pipeline was laid across the Dorset countryside, from the newly constructed Atomic Energy Authority site on Winfrith Heath to a point two miles out at sea off Arish Mell. The centre core of the dual-core pipeline was used to discharge radioactive effluent from Winfrith AEA to sea. The outer core discharged non-active waste. The dispersal of the radioactive effluent from Weymouth Bay was dependent on the right tidal conditions being met. An earlier associated AERE report, entitled - Exercise MERMAID, investigated the possible effects of discharging radioactive effluent into Weymouth Bay. It stated: ""It must be therefore be assumed that the concentration at the shore in Dorset will be relatively ten times greater than at Windscale and this factor must be taken into account in determining the permissible discharge. The permissible activity on the shore must not exceed that found by many years experience to be harmless at Windscale. This means that anyone may safely spend 100 hours a year at the low water mark on a beach contaminated consistently at this level."