§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the purpose of look-out bunkers; how many there are in the United Kingdom; and if he will give the location of those situated in the Penistone area.
§ Mr. MayhewMonitoring posts of the United Kingdom warning and monitoring organisation are equipped with instruments for detecting the location and power of a nt. clear burst and for monitoring the presence and intensity of radio active fall-out. They are maintained at a high state of readiness and used regularly by volunteer members of the Royal Observer Corps for exercises and training.
The major war time functions of the UKWMO are to warn the public of the threat of air attack and fall-out and provide civil and military authorities with details of nuclear burst and a scientific assessment of the path and intensity of fall-out. A network of 870 underground monitoring posts covering the whole of the United Kingdom at intervals of 10 to 15 miles has been established to provide field reporting by land line and radio to 25 UKWMO controls. In the Penistone area monitoring posts are located near Stocksbridge and Holmfirth.
§ Mr. Allen McKayasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the total cost of building civil defence look-out bunkers; and what are their total running and maintenance costs.
§ Mr. MayhewThe field reporting network of underground monitoring posts for the United Kingdom warning and monitoring organisation was planned in the188W late 1950s. Over 1,500 posts were originally built at an average cost of £1,200 each, a total of £1.8 million. The number of posts required for warning and monitoring operations was reduced to 870 in 1968 and their running and maintenance costs currently total about £100,000 a year.