§ 1. Mr. Laurance Reedasked the Minister of State for Defence when the last British thermonuclear device was exploded above Maiden Island; and what radiation hazards exist there today.
§ The Minister of State for Defence (Lord Balniel)The last British test of a thermonuclear device above Maiden Island took place on 19th June, 1957. We have no evidence of any radiation hazard there today.
§ The Minister of State for Defence (Lord Balniel)The last British test of a thermonuclear device above Maiden Island took place on 19th June, 1957. We have no evidence of any radiation hazard there today.
§ Mr. ReedIs my right hon. Friend aware that I was at these tests and that very shortly after the third detonation I landed on the island and swam in the sea there? Will he agree that the fact that I am alive and kicking today suggests that such tests can be completed with relatively little danger and that all the fuss made about the French tests in this area is so much ballyhoo?
§ Lord BalnielMy hon. Friend is correct that there was no radioactive hazard immediately after the tests and I am advised that this means that there could not subsequently have been any radiation hazard.
§ Mr. DalyellI was going to ask what recent evidence there was of radiation hazard, but it is covered by the answer.