HC Deb 17 December 1981 vol 15 c207W
Mr. Donald Stewart

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if his Department has instructed local authorities to acquire information concerning shielding factors for different types of building that can be designated as shelters in the vicinity of nuclear power facilities.

Mr. Giles Shaw

No.

Mr. Gordon Wilson

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what off-site authorities have responsibilities for routinely monitoring levels of radiation in the environment surrounding nuclear facilities.

Mr. Giles Shaw

The Environment Departments, and in England the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, as the authorising Departments under the Radioactive Substances Act 1960, are the off-site authorities which ensure that adequate monitoring of the environment is carried out by the operator of a nuclear site, and also arrange check monitoring. Responsibility for monitoring lies primarily, however, with the site operator.