§ Mr. Bill WalkerTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what routine monitoring of public water supplies for radioactivity has been done in Scotland since the Chernobyl accident; and if he will make a full statement.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonA programme of routine monitoring was begun in February 1987. A total of 98 samples from 42 public water supply sources throughout Scotland has been analysed over a period of 14 months, some supplies being sampled at regular monthly intervals and others less frequently. In every case the levels of radioactivity found were within the guideline values recommended by the World Health Organisation, below which water can be considered potable without further radiological examination. The analyses also covered numerous individual radionuclides and only three samples showed isolated values slightly above the limit of detection. These did not recur in later samples. A further monitoring programme is now in progress.