HC Deb 26 July 1985 vol 83 c885W
Mr. Hancock

asked the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the Royal Navy ships involved in radiation tests between 1950 and 1956.

Mr. Butler

[pursuant to his reply, 25 July 1985]: The Navy ships involved in radiation tests between 1950 and 1956 were:

  • HMS Implacable;
  • HMS Rapid;
  • HMS Royalist;
  • HMS Sirius.

The tests consisted in the main of measuring the attenuation provided by parts of a ship to radiation from a source of radioactive cobalt. This allowed the protection afforded against both radiation flash and radioactive contamination to be determined.

In addition, a number of Royal Navy ships were involved in the British atmospheric nuclear weapon test programme, and some of these required decontamination, as I explained in my reply to the hon. Member yesterday. Of these, only HMS Diana was exposed to radioactive fallout in order to test radiation protection arrangements.

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