§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what risk is posed to the public, in terms of the expected additional number of cancer deaths per 10,000 population, by levels of radioisotopes detected over Scotland as a result of the Chernobyl disaster.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe levels of radioisotopes detected over Scotland as a result of the Chernobyl incident have varied widely. These have, in all cases, been well within internationally agreed levels at which we would be required to consider taking action to protect individuals.
While it is extremely difficult to predict with any accuracy the extent to which the levels of radioisotopes detected might bring about an increase in the annual rate of mortality due to cancer, estimates based on models used by the National Radiological Protection Board and the International Commission for Radiological Protection indicate that the number of fatal cancers expected to occur over the next 35 years will be of the order of 0.02 per 10,000 population.