§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment if he will make a statement on his policy towards acceptable levels of radiation exposure, following the most recent report of the National Radiological Protection Board.
§ Mr. NichollsI am awaiting the advice of the Health and Safety Commission. The commission has set up a working group on ionising radiations which met for the first time on 9 December 1987. The working group is considering the recent guidance from the National Radiological Protection Board as part of its remit and will advise the commission on an appropriate course of action. I am content to await any subsequent recommendations.
Workers and the public are currently protected by the Ionising Radiations 1985, which require doses to be kept not only below specified dose limits but beyond that to be kept as low as reasonably practicable.