§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the implications for Vickers Submarine Engineering Ltd. of the Canadian Government decision to withdraw from purchasing Trafalgar class nuclear power submarines.
§ Mr. SainsburyThe Canadian Government had not awarded any contracts prior to their decision not to proceed with a nuclear-powered submarine programme. Had the programme gone ahead and the United Kingdom been selected as country of origin for the design of the submarine, United Kingdom industry, including Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd., would have expected to obtain a significant proportion of the business.
§ Mr. John EvansTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list in theOfficial Report all surveys of whatever size carried out by his Department amongst past and present submarine service personnel or their offspring to determine whether there has been any abnormal 522W statistical evidence of medical disorders arising from exposure of Royal Navy nuclear submarine personnel to radiation; if he will publish the dates and the population census for such surveys; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonMedical records of all naval personnel are analysed annually and any health trends are identified. There have been no special surveys carried out by the Department to determine whether there is any evidence of medical disorders arising from exposure of Royal Navy nuclear submarine personnel to radiation. A report on morbidity in submariners between 1969 and 1974 was produced in 1975: this was not specifically concerned with the effects of radiation. Also, as I said in reply to the hon. Member on 2 May at columns61–62, a study into mortality and morbidity among submariners is currently in progress. This, too, is not specifically concerned with radiation, although it examines radiation along with all other factors which could affect the health of submariners.
In general, personnel serving in Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarines receive lower radiation doses than members of the public, since they are shielded from much cosmic and terrestrial radiation. Those submarine personnel designated as radiation workers are included in the national register of such workers, unless they explicitly ask to be excluded.