§ Mr. LeighTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy whether he intends to provide for requests for aid under the International Atomic Energy Agency conventions on assistance in the case of a nuclear accident or radiological emergency.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerYes. This IAEA convention, which was agreed following the Chernobyl accident, provides for bilateral or multilateral co-operation, in the case of a nuclear accident or a radiological emergency, to minimise any consequences and to protect life, property and the environment from the effects of radioactive releases. The signing of the convention was announced to the House on 20 January 1987, at column 478.
586WFollowing the recent incident in Goiania in Brazil involving a medical radiation source, my Department has received through the IAEA a request from the Brazilian Government for a gift of radiation monitoring equipment. I propose to meet this request. Parliamentary approval for this new service will be sought in a Supplementary Supply Estimate for the Department of Energy's class VI, vote 2. Pending that approval, urgent expenditure for the required equipment, which will not exceed £10,000, will be met by a repayable advance from the Contingencies Fund.