§ Mr. Home RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what equipment is available to his Department for the detection of radioactive contamination in the atmosphere; and if any new equipment has been acquired for this purpose since the Chernobyl accident.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell operates three air sampling stations in Scotland. In addition civil and nuclear establishments, the National Radiological Protection Board and some academic and research centres in346W Scotland undertake routine monitoring of the atmosphere for radioactivity. All results are available to the Scottish Office.
Under the national response plan for dealing with nuclear accidents overseas, some 80 monitoring stations will be established in the United Kingdom, of which about 26 will be in Scotland. They will measure gamma dose rates, but a number of sites yet to be determined will also be equipped to measure air concentrations. Some 46 monitoring sites will be established this year (20 in Scotland) and the balance within two years.