{"id":27332,"date":"2024-03-10T04:14:21","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T08:14:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=27332"},"modified":"2024-03-10T04:14:21","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T08:14:21","slug":"radioactive-gas-in-hmp-dartmoor-forces-dozens-of-inmates-to-relocate-as-cells-close-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2024\/03\/10\/radioactive-gas-in-hmp-dartmoor-forces-dozens-of-inmates-to-relocate-as-cells-close-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Radioactive gas in HMP Dartmoor forces dozens of inmates to relocate as cells close down"},"content":{"rendered":"

HMP Dartmoor has been forced to close off dozens of cells and transfer nearly 200 inmates after radioactive gas was detected in the prison.<\/p>\n

An elevated presence of radon – an odourless and colourless gas – was recently identified in the men’s prison in Devon.<\/p>\n

The relocation numbers have now come to light.<\/p>\n

Between November and February, 184 cells were shut, with official figures suggesting its total safe capacity is 640.<\/p>\n

In the same period until February, 194 prisoners were moved out of the jail because of the radon contamination, it is understood.<\/p>\n

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “A number of prisoners have been relocated as a precautionary measure after routine testing revealed higher than normal levels of radon.”<\/p>\n

The shifting of inmates was a “temporary measure” amid work to “permanently reduce” radon levels in the Category C establishment to ensure no safety issues to staff and prisoners on site.<\/p>\n

Radon is formed by the radioactive decay of the small amounts of uranium that occur naturally in all rocks and soils, and can only be detected using special instruments.<\/p>\n

The radioactive elements can be inhaled, and continues to decay within the body, emitting radiation. It is responsible for around 1,000 lung cancer deaths a year.<\/p>\n

While the gas is everywhere, the levels are low as is the risk it poses to health – however, it is thought to occur more often in areas with high concentrations of granite, such as Dartmoor.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Radon<\/div>
A map showing levels of radon across the UK. The darker the colour the greater the chance of a higher level. (Image:\u00a0 UKHSA)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Labour<\/strong><\/a>, which revealed the figures in a series of questions to ministers, said it was “shocking that the government’s mismanagement of the prison estate means they are having to reduce the number of prison places during a capacity crisis”.<\/p>\n

Ruth Cadbury, shadow prisons minister, pointed to radon being detected in 2020 but the\u00a0Ministry of Justice<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0said measures “weren’t put in place until 2022”.<\/p>\n

She questioned the delay, adding: “After 14 years in power and a dozen prison ministers, our prisons are out of control and the government need to get a grip.”<\/p>\n

Justice minister Edward Argar said the Prison Service was “continually investing in the prison estate to ensure that prisons remain safe, decent and secure”.<\/p>\n

Mr Argar said the increased levels of radon detected in 2020 were in “subterranean areas adjacent to the kitchen and workshops”.<\/p>\n

He added: “Temporary mitigations have been in place at Dartmoor in those areas since 2022 following advice from specialist contractors, pending permanent mitigations that are near completion.<\/p>\n

“Further specialist advice has been commissioned following the recent identification of elevated radon levels in some accommodation areas of the prison.”<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a report in December by Dartmoor’s independent monitoring board highlighted the prison was understaffed and overcrowded, and arguably “not fit for purpose”.<\/p>\n

It added: “It is only in this year that some actions have been taken while further monitoring is undertaken to inform future decisions.”<\/p>\n

Source: \u00a0\"Sky<\/a> news.sky.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HMP Dartmoor has been forced to close off dozens of cells and transfer nearly 200 inmates after radioactive gas was detected in the prison. An elevated presence of radon – an odourless and colourless gas […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[109,2,4],"tags":[4158,10217,840,10218,7258],"class_list":{"0":"post-27332","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headline","8":"category-news","9":"category-uk","10":"tag-devon","11":"tag-hmp-dartmoor","12":"tag-ministry-of-justice","13":"tag-radon","14":"tag-uk-prisons","15":"pmpro-has-access"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27332"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27335,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27332\/revisions\/27335"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}