§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department why British civil defence plans are based on the premise that several days' warring of a nuclear attack will be available in view of the fact that United States plans are based on much shorter warning.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerIt is important to distinguish between warning of an actual attack and a period of alert at a time of increasing tension which would enable emergency preparations to be made. Information about home defence plans is exchanged with our American Allies, and I have no reason to suppose that there is any fundamental difference between us on this matter.
§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of his responsibility for civil defence, what estimate he has made of the hazards to 15W human life from short-lived isotopes like iodine 131 and barium 140 resulting from a nuclear explosion; and what instructions he has given to the Civil Defence organisation in this connection.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe attention of Civil Defence volunteers is drawn in the manual "Nuclear Weapons" to the hazards from radio-iodine and other isotopes which are specially dangerous when ingested. Guidance on protective measures is given in the manual.
§ Mr. Pavittasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department, in view of his responsibility with regard to civil defence, how many roentgens he estimates would prove fatal to people exposed in the open to the fall-out from a nuclear explosion, if absorbed in a period of 48 hours after a nuclear explosion.
§ Mr. R. A. ButlerThe susceptibility of individuals to radiation varies, but some would die from a dose of 350 roentgens in this period, and only a few would survive a dose of 600 roentgens.