§ 63. Mr. Watkinsasked the Minister of Housing and Local Government and Minister for Welsh Affairs if he will 21W indicate the names of the water undertakings in Wales which have monitoring services for radioactivity in respect of drinking water; where these tests have taken place; and whether he will make a statement upon their results.
§ Mr. H. BrookeI believe that some ten water undertakers are having water from Welsh sources tested for radioactivity; but since water undertakers do not need my authority to make these tests I cannot provide a comprehensive list. The tests applied are generally not so exact or informative as those under the Government's monitoring programme, which covers the whole country, but such results as have been reported to my Department are consistent with the results recorded in the report published by the Atomic Energy Research Establishment last January, entitled "A preliminary survey of radiostrontium and radiocaesium in drinking water in the United Kingdom". This showed that the intake of these materials from drinking water is only a minor part of the total dietary intake, which in turn is well within safe limits.