§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) how many studies on radiation exposure to the work force at the research, development and operational establishments at(a) Llanishen, (b) Aldermaston, (c) Burghfield, (d) Devonport, (e) Rosyth, (f) Chatham and (g) Vulcan at Dounreay have been conducted (i) by his Department and (ii) by independent authorities since each facility began operations;
(2) if he will make it his policy to initiate a study into the health effects of radiation on workers and their families based at Llanishen, Burghfield, Aldermaston and the Royal Navy college at Greenwich;
(3) if he will make it his policy to initiate a study into the health effects of radiation on the work force at the Devonport and Rosyth shipyards.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonRadiation exposures to radiation workers at MOD establishments are kept under constant local review by the radiation protection advisers and local management, and are also scrutinised by the Health and Safety Executive. Such exposures are authorised solely on the basis that they are justified, that they comply with statutory limits, and that they are as low as reasonably practicable. The data is placed on the national register of radiation workers and is included in a current mortality study by the National Radiological Protection Board on the whole of the United Kingdom nuclear industry.
The committee on medical aspects of radiation in the environment has recommended a nationwide study of leukaemia in children of workers in the nuclear industry. The Department of Health is considering how this study might be carried out, and we will co-operate fully as appropriate.
The following independent studies on radiation exposure in the MOD work force have been published:
- (i) 'Report of an Investigation into Radiological Health and Safety at the Ministry of Defence (Procurement Executive) Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston', by Sir Edward Pochin, 30 October 1978.
- (ii) 'AWE Mortality Study', published in the British Medical Journal, No. 6651, Vol. 297 on 24 September 1988.
- (iii) 'Radiation induced Chromosome Aberrations in Nuclear-Dockyard Workers' (a study on Rosyth Dockyard Workers), published in Nature (Evans et al, Vol. 277, p531, 1979).
§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the implications of the Gardner report on radiation risks for the continued use of nuclear materials by his Department.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonRadiation exposures continue to be authorised by the MOD only on the basis that they are justified, comply with statutory limits, and are as low as reasonably practicable. This is a continuing process and I see no reason to change current practice.
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§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what precautions against radiation exposure will be taken in the removal of the research reactor from the Royal Naval college at Greenwich.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonWe will comply with all relevant statutory requirements and radiation exposure will be kept as low as reasonably practicable. The reactor fuel will be transported in a container which will conform fully with the regulations governing transport of radioactive material as administered by the Department of Transport.