A British prison has partially shut down after authorities detected a radioactive gas leak on site.
Authorities at HMP Dartmoor have closed more than 180 cells after they detected radon – an odourless, colourless gas responsible for thousands of cancer deaths per year.
The prison, which was built to host inmates during the 19th century Napoleonic Wars and now serves as a Category C men’s facility, has now moved out 200 prisoners over fears they could be exposed to the chemical.
HMP Dartmoor’s capacity has dropped by 184 between November 2023 and February 2024 and can now only hold a maximum of 640 people.
The emergency measures have come at the height of what politicians have termed a “capacity crisis” in British prisons.
Labour Party MP and shadow prisons minister Ruth Cadbury revealed the numbers while questioning ministers in the House of Commons, stating the gas was first detected in 2020.
She claimed measures weren’t put in place until 2022 and asked her Government counterparts to “explain why it has taken over two years for them to act”.
The Daily Mail reported that 194 prisoners have been moved from the prison as cells were closed between November and February, and while the reason for their removal is “not recorded”, the publication said it is understood the “vast majority” were moved because of the gas.
Radon is thought to be responsible for up to 1,000 lung cancer deaths per year, and its presence is associated with granite structures like HMP Dartmoor.
Ms Cadbury said the change in HMP Dartmoor’s capacity was due to the “Government’s mismanagement of the prison estate”, and argued the UK was in the midst of a “capacity crisis”.
But Edward Argar, the justice minister, said the Prison Service has invested in making the UK’s correctional facilities “safe, decent and secure”.
He confirmed the elevated radon readings were detected in 2022 in “subterranean areas adjacent to the kitchen and workshops”.
The justice minister 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.
“Further specialist advice has been commissioned following the recent identification of elevated radon levels in some accommodation areas of the prison.”
A Prison Service spokesperson told the Mail: “A number of prisoners have been relocated as a precautionary measure after routine testing revealed higher than normal levels of radon.
“This is a temporary measure while work to permanently reduce radon levels is completed, and there are no safety implications to staff or prisoners who remain on site.”
