HC Deb 21 May 1962 vol 660 cc22-3
34. Mr. Frank Allaun

asked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if he will give the weekly figures supplied by the Atomic Energy Authority for the concentration of radioactivity per kilogram of air in Great Britain for each of the last three weeks and the average for May, 1961.

Mr. Denzil Freeth

I am advised that the comparison of figures relating to fallout at particular dates can be misleading because it is the long term trend which is significant. However, representative figures for total beta activity in air near ground level for the last three weeks have been—

For the week ending May 5th—2.5 pico curies per kilogram of air.

For the week ending May 12th—2.0 pico curies per kilogram of air.

For the week ending May 19th—1.8 pico curies per kilogram of air.

The corresponding average figure for May, 1961, was 0.07 pico curies per kilogram of air.

The current levels of fallout in air are running at under half the levels experienced in the corresponding period in 1959 following the American. British and Russian tests in the previous year.

Mr. Allaun

Do not those figures show that the level is roughly 30 times what it was last May? Is it or is it not now the Government's considered view that even small doses of radiation are dangerous?

Mr. Freeth

The figure now is well under half the level for May, 1959, and substantially lower than that for May, 1957, and that for May, 1958, so taking one particular year alters one's mathematics considerably. I can only repeat that I am advised that it is considered most unlikely that the fall-out to be expected this spring will rise to levels requiring special measures to be taken.

Mr. Peyton

Would my hon. Friend be good enough to give me five minutes of his time some time to explain what his original Answer meant?

Mr. Freeth

I will willingly give my hon. Friend six.

Mr. Allaun

May I repeat the question which the Minister did not answer? Is is or is it not now the Government's view that even a small dose of radiation is dangerous?

Mr. Freeth

All radiation has an effect upon human beings, but what we are now considering is the matter of the cumulative effect of natural radiation and man-made radiation. The radiation caused by nuclear tests has so far been relatively small, taken overall, in relation to natural radiation.