§ 84. Mr. CartwrightTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a further statement on the decommissioning of Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines.
§ Mr. SainsburyI refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr. Wallace) on 9 May 1988 at column 2.
§ Mr. AltonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans exist to distribute iodine tablets to residents of a town near a nuclear submarine base in the event of a major containment failure of a pressurised water reactor on a nuclear submarine.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonArrangements are in place at ports where nuclear submarines are permitted to berth to ensure the prompt distribution of stable iodine to those at risk in the very unlikely event of a containment failure leading to the release of radioactive iodine. Formal contact is maintained with the relevant public authorities who, together with their naval counterparts, review these arrangements on a regular basis and thereby keep them fully up-to-date.