§ 46. Mr. Awberyasked the Prime Minister if he is aware that the United States of America is sending samples of soil to the Soviet Academy of Science to be analysed for the radioactive fall-out content, particularly strontium 90, and that similar samples are to be sent from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and what similar reciprocal arrangements exist between this country, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
§ The Prime MinisterThere is no question of an interchange purely between the United States of America and the Soviet Union.
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation has arranged a system whereby reference samples of such materials as bone-ash, soil and milk-ash can be circulated to any laboratory requesting them, together with a report of all previous measurements by other laboratories on the samples. The United States has supplied such samples to the Secretariat of the United Nations Scientific Committee, at the Committee's request, for distribution. United Kingdom laboratories participate 86W in this scheme and have assayed some of these standard samples. The primary purpose of these reference samples is to enable laboratories to standardise their methods.