§ 23. Mr. Strangasked the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what is his latest estimate of the number of sheep in England and Wales which have registered levels of caesium 134 and caesium 137 in excess of 1,000 Becquerels per kilo since the accident at Chernobyl.
§ Mr. JoplingLatest results of testing in England and Wales are being placed in the Library of the House today and tomorrow. On the basis of these results and data aleady published by this Department and the Welsh Office, 54 sheep in England and 68 sheep in Wales (including 20 young lambs specially selected from one flock for testing for scientific purposes) have been found to contain combined levels of caesium 134 and caesium 137 in excess of 1,000 Bq/kg.
§ 29. Mr. Torneyasked the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what further action he proposes to ensure the future safety of the consumer from eating siblings of the sheep that are at present affected by radiation from the Chernobyl disaster.
§ Mr. JoplingControls on the movement and slaughter of all sheep from areas where meat has been shown by testing to contain elevated levels of radioactivty will continue for as long as necessary to ensure that when the sheep are marketed their meat will be below the recommended action level.