§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what information he has as to why dosage emergency reference levels differ, for iodene- 131 in milk, in the countries of western Europe and of the extent to which they differ; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveI shall answer this question shortly.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what are the levels of the actinides and strontium 90 in the environment and food at the present time.
§ Mr. WaldegraveA collation of environmental monitoring data in the United Kingdom following the Chernobyl incident has been placed in the Library of the House. A more comprehensive listing of strontium-90 and actinide levels in the environment will be published when they are available.
§ Mr. D. E. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether the dosage emergency reference levels used by the National Radiological Protection Board take into account the fact that fission products, namely, iodine 131, caesium 137, strontium 90, and so on, will not normally appear individually in the environment.
§ Mr. WaldegraveYes.
§ Mr. Tony Lloydasked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will publish for the north-west region (a) the highest recorded radioactivity of a litre of milk, (b)the highest recorded level of radioactivity in rain-water and (c) the highest hypothetical dose received.
§ Mr. WaldegraveRepresentative peak values for radioactivity in milk and rain-water are given in information bulletin No. 5, published by the Department on 11 May 1986. Preliminary dose estimates for the United Kingdom were published inNature on 15 May 1986: these estimates will be refined in due course.
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§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Secretary of State for the Environment, further to his answer of 15 May 1985, Official Report, column 554–5, if he will specify the criteria given to the radiochemical inspectorate on the basis of which they will report incidents of release of radioactivity from nuclear power stations to him, and the time scale on which these are to be reported.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe radiochemical inspectorate has been instructed to report all incidents involving the release of radioactivity from nuclear power stations; and to do so as soon as it receives the relevant information.