§ Mr. Frank Allaunasked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science if, in view of the statement by the Italian delegate to the 17-nation disarmament conference in Geneva on 14th February that nuclear fallout that month was reaching dangerously high levels, he will state the fall-out levels in Great Britain at various dates in February; and how they compared with the normal level.
§ Mr. Denzil FreethThe Italian delegate referred to levels of radioactivity in milk in Italy. In this country the amount of radioactivity iodine in milk was so low 223W during February as to be undetectable. Because of the time required for accurate analysis, figures for Strontium 90 in milk in February will not be available for some time.
Measurements of the level of total radioactivity in air give a rough indication of likely trends. The measurements at Chilton, Berks. in the month in question were as follows:
- Mean for week ending 1st February, 1963–2.4 picocuries per kilogram of air.
- Mean for week ending 8th February, 1963–2.7 picocuries per kilogram of air.
- Mean for week ending 15th February, 1963–2.0 picocuries per kilogram of air.
- Mean for week ending 22nd February, 1963–2.0 picocuries per kilogram of air.
The corresponding mean levels in February in the years 1957 to 1962 were 1.2, 1.2, 5.3, 0.2, 0.03 and 3.1 picocuries per kilogram of air respectively.