§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the study which is being carried out by the National Radiological Protection Board on the health of British nuclear test participants.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe study on the health of British nuclear test participants is making progress, but it has proved to be more difficult than was expected when the National Radiological Protection Board issued its protocol in 1983. I am now advised that the results cannot be expected until spring next year. There are a number of reasons for the delay.
The first reason is that the study includes a much higher proportion of participants, about 20,000, rather than the 12,000 of whom details were available at the outset. This increase has required a corresponding increase in the size of the control group. The NRPB holds firmly to the view that this improves the study's validity and epidemiological acceptability enormously. NRPB, of course, has to be satisfied that it can fully justify the inclusion of each person.
Secondly, the operation of searching service records, which were not designed for the purpose of identifying all 461W individuals present at or near the test locations between certain precisely defined dates, has proved to be much more time consuming than was expected.
Thirdly, and most important, the various field records identifying participants often only include a surname. Very considerable search of service records is therefore needed to identify the individual, confirm his participation and obtain the details needed to find him in the National Health Service central register. Even now some 2,000 names are still being investigated.
I am satisfied that these difficulties have been tackled vigorously and extra resources have been applied to try and maintain the momentum of the study. The study will be a better one as a result, but I am afraid that it will take longer to complete.