§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what further studies he is carrying out on radioactivity in Trawsfynydd lake; and when he expects the results to be available.
§ Mr. Nicholas BennettThe fisheries radiological inspectorate—FRI—of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food provides scientific advice to the Welsh Office which is responsible for radioactive waste disposal authorisations in Wales. The FRI operates a continuing programme of monitoring of radiation dose rates and measuring radioactivity in a variety of environmental materials in the environment of Lake Trawsfynydd. The results are published in the FBI's annual reports of monitoring of radioactivity in surface and coastal waters of the British isles and copies are available in the Library of the House.
An enhanced programme has been set up to obtain samples of sediment cores, in which radioactivity can be measured in specific layers. The results of this additional work will be published in due course; meanwhile, the results so far are comparable where appropriate with the results of the regular monitoring programme.