§ Mr. CohenTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on the cost of decontaminating the area around the Maralinga nuclear test site in Australia; if Her Majesty's Government will contribute to the cost of this decontamination; if Her Majesty's Government will compensate victims of the nuclear tests at Maralinga in 1963; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Sainsbury[holding answer 26 May 1988]: Responsibility for the test sites has been a matter for the Australian Government since the 1968 clean-up operation. However, the two Governments continue to liaise closely on the future of the sites. No United Kingdom atmospheric nuclear tests were undertaken after 1958. The Government do not accept that the health of participants has been affected by the ionising radiation generated by these tests or the experimental programmes which continued until 1963. Compensation other than that already provided by the war pension scheme administered by the DHSS cannot therefore be justified.