§ Mr. Terry FieldsTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what provision for screening of submariners serving on Her Majesty's nuclear submarine Valiant was undertaken by his Department, following structural faults being discovered in that vessel during 1964, 1965 and 1966; if a full register of these submariners is still maintained; if follow-up medical examinations have followed; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe majority of the period in question represents the later stages of construction and the commissioning of HMS Valiant. There were few problems of any nature during this period. As part of her trials, extensive radiation surveys were carried out. The ship's company was subject to personal dosimetry, and the statutory radiation protection limits were enforced. All classified radiation workers will have had annual medical examinations for as long as they continued such work; further examinations would have been applicable only if overexposures had taken place.
Radiation exposure records are held, as required by law, on all nuclear submariners for this period who were subject to dosimetric assessment. Although the ship's company in question could be identified from naval records, radiation records are held on a personal basis.