Porton Down (Hansard, 8 January 2002)

§ Matthew Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many films are held by the Chemical and Biological Defence Establishment at Porton Down of its biological warfare trial known as Operation Cauldron; and if he will place a list of the titles and dates of the films on this trial in the Library. [23129]

§ Dr. Moonie
During the late 1940s and early 1950s the Ministry of Supply undertook a series of major sea trials of the dissemination of biological warfare agents. It is believed that films, each consisting of several reels, were taken of the individual trials, including Operation Cauldron, which was conducted in 1952. Porton Down holds a videotape, entitled "Operation Cauldron—1952", which contains approximately 20–30 minutes of footage extracted from that shot during the trial. I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 9 May 2001,Official Report, column 197W, in which I explained that the titles of the 1,200 films in the archive at Dstl Porton Down have not been catalogued and in many cases are not very informative. It would involve disproportionate cost to collate a list of films. Therefore we cannot say if reels of film containing footage of Operation Cauldron are held in the archive at Dstl Portdon Down. Films held in the archive are gradually being transferred to the Imperial War Museum where they are being reviewed and catalogued. This is being undertaken in accordance with MOD policy.

§ Matthew Taylor
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a list of the common and chemical names of the incapacitants which have been tested on service volunteers at the chemical defence establishment, Porton Down, during the Service Volunteer Programme; and how many service volunteers were tested with each of these incapacitants. [22932]

§ Dr. Moonie
Agents known to have been used at Porton Down during the Service Volunteer Programme, and which are generally considered to be incapacitants include those listed.
559W
Sensory irritants:

CS (orthochlorobenzylidine malononitrile) and its ortho-bromo ortho-nitro, ortho-hydroxy, ortho-cyano, meta-hydroxy, di-chloro and di-ethyoxy derivatives;

CN or CAP (chloroacetophenone) and its ortho-nitro, meta-fluoro, and 2-hydroxy-5-methyl derivatives;

Benzyl bromide derivatives including para-bromo, para-nitro, para-cyano, ortho-cyano and bromo-cyano; para-nitro and para-bromo benzyl iodides;

BBC (bromobenzlcyanide);

ethyl bromoacetate;

ortho-xylene dibromide and derivatives;

bromo-p-toluamide;

CR (dibenzoxazepine);

methoxycycloheptatriene;

fumaronitrile;

ammonia;

ethyl alcohol;

tri-n-propyl lead beta chloropropionate;

DA (diphenylchloroarsine);

DM (diphenylamine chloroarsine) and a range of chloroarsine derivatives;

Capsaicin.
Centrally acting agents such as:

LSD (D-lyseric acid diethylamide);

BZ (3-quinclidinyl benzoate) and a range of other glycollates; oripavine and its derivatives;

a range of morphine derivatives and Pyrexal.
However, definitions of what constitutes an incapacitant vary and there are many agents used in the Service Volunteer Programme on which information is not readily available. Precise numbers of volunteers exposed to the various agents are not known. Collation of such data would involve extensive detailed searches of all the Porton Down record books. It is hoped that this information will become available as a result of the proposed research into the health of Porton Down Volunteers.