§ 3.27 p.m.
§ LORD AMULREEMy Lords, I beg to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ [The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the date on which the latest information on the level of radioactivity over the United Kingdom was given to them by the Medical Research Council and what that level was.]
§ THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (VISCOUNT HAILSHAM)My Lords, the Medical Research Council, together with the Agricultural Research Council, is, through a joint Committee, responsible for collecting information about the levels of radiostrontium in biological materials in the United Kingdom. Reports on radiostrontium in soil, grass, milk and bone in the United Kingdom have been laid in the Library of the House, and a further one will, I hope, become available about the middle of the year. Measurements of radioactivity in the upper atmosphere are made by the Atomic Energy Authority. There was a significant rise in short-term radioactivity in the upper atmosphere late in March, but this activity was due to short-lived products of nuclear explosions which do not constitute a health hazard.
§ LORD AMULREEMy Lords, I should like to thank the noble Viscount for his Answer to my Question. I will consider: I think it supplies me with the information I require.
§ VISCOUNT HAILSHAMI hope so.