§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to what training, for each division of the Strathclyde police force, police officers have received to deal with accidents involving radioactivity, as to the exercises each division carries out to deal with such accidents and as to the intervals at which such exercises take place;
(2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to what exercises, for each division of Strathclyde police force, police officers have taken part in to prepare themselves for (i) an accident involving radioactive contamination and (ii) evacuation of the population in the event of a worst case nuclear reactor disaster under adverse meteorological conditions, over the last five years.
§ Mr. LangI understand from the chief constable that it is not the policy of Strathclyde police to train personnel on a divisional basis to deal with accidents involving radioactivity. Fully trained police personnel are, however, available at any time to attend and direct force operations in the event of such an accident, and contingency plans prepared by the emergencies planning section of the force are retained within each division.
Similarly, exercises in dealing with this type of accident are not undertaken divisionally, but some divisions have 576W gained experience through participating in exercises organised by agencies other than the police, including the exercises held in each of the past five years by the South of Scotland Electricity Board in relation to the emergency plan for the Hunterston power station. In this context, the police contingency plan for evacuation of the population in the event of a worst case nuclear reactor disaster has been exercised on a simulated basis.
§ Mr. Foulkesasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to the number, for each division of the Strathclyde police force, of (i) dosimeters, (ii) radiac survey meters, (iii) sets of protective clothing, (iv) breathing units and (v) decontamination units possessed or available for use;
(2) if he will call for a report from the chief constable of Strathclyde as to what items of equipment, for each division of Strathclyde police force, are available for police use in an accident involving radioactive contamination.
§ Mr. LangI understand from the chief constable that, although equipment for use in an accident involving radioactive contamination is not held by the force on a divisional basis, 36 dosimeters and 22 radiac survey meters are held centrally for training purposes.
The force does not hold sets of protective clothing, breathing units or decontamination units for this purpose, but the national arrangements for dealing with incidents involving radioactivity (the NAIR scheme) provides for the involvement, where necessary, of other services, including the fire service and hospitals, with access to them.