This modelling study examines the dispersion within the shelf seas surrounding the UK, of 137Cs discharged from Sellafield between 1969 and 1988 together with the atmospheric deposition following Chernobyl (April 1986). The close agreement obtained between computed and observed distributions lends confidence to estimates of flushing times-fundamental parameters in determining pollutant concentrations. Moreover, this study confirms, to first-order, the estimates of Chernobyl fall-out provided by atmospheric dispersion models. ¿American Geophysical Union 1991