§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information he has on radiation dose exposures for refit workers involved in the United States nuclear propulsion programme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertBased on information available from the United States, the shipyard work force performing USN nuclear propulsion work during 1989 and involving occupational exposure to ionising radiation, consisted of 24,422 workers. These workers received a total occupational exposure of 29.41 sieverts.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence on what radiation dose records for submarine refit workers at royal dockyards were computerised; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertRadiation dose records for employees at the royal dockyards were computerised at the army pay and record centre, RAPC Worthy Down on 1 January 1979. On 1 November 1984 they were transferred to the defence radiological protection service at Gosport.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the total occupational, whole body equivalent, radiation exposure of each individual worker employed in Royal Navy dockyards in the United Kingdom, in milliSieverts, for each year since the onset of the naval nuclear propulsion programme; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertIt is not considered appropriate to present this detailed personal information to the House. Individual dose records are available to the individuals themselves on request.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many women involved in submarine refit operations have received radiation dose exposures greater than 13 mSv in any consecutive three month interval; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertNone.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many pregnant women employed at Royal Navy dockyards have received radiation doses of, or greater than, 10 mSv during their declared term of pregnancy; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertNone.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Royal Navy dockyard personnel involved in submarine refit and associated work involving exposure to ionising radiations are women of child-bearing age; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. NeubertThere are a total of 31 women, including contractors' personnel, employed in submarine refit and associated work involving exposure to ionising radiations. It is assumed that all women are of reproductive capacity as described in the Ionising Radiations Regulations 1985.
§ Mr. McFallTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what register of pregnant women employed at the Royal Navy dockyards is kept in respect of ionising radiation dosage; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. NeubertNone. Legislation does not require such registers to be maintained. However, local administrative procedures at each royal dockyard are such as to ensure that women do not exceed the limits specified in parts IV and V to schedule 1 of the Ionising Radiation Regulations 1985.
§ Mr. Gordon BrownTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will give a breakdown for Rosyth dockyard of annual individual radiation exposure for workers in the bands of(a) 0 to 10, (b) 10 to 20, (c) 20 to 30, (d) 30 to 40, (e) greater than 50, (f) greater than 70 and (g) greater than 100 milliSieverts for all years since the onset of nuclear work.
§ Mr. Neubert[holding answer 26 April 1990]: A breakdown of annual individual radiation does for Rosyth dockyard workers for each of the years 1979–89 is given in the table. The figures shown in brackets are the number of additional employees monitored for exposure to ionising radiation by the local issue of direct reading dosimeters while employed under a written system of work. A more detailed or alternative breakdown of the figures and data for years earlier than 1979 can be produced only at disproportionate cost.
Radiation Dose Statistics—Rosyth Dockyard 1979/1989 Number of personnel in dose ranges Year 0–15mSv 15–20mSv 20–30mSv 30–40mSv 40–50mSv Over 50mSv 1989 478 20 28 5 1 0 (1,200) 1988 503 18 9 0 0 0 (1142) 1987 569 4 2 1 0 0 (1,439) 1986 711 6 1 0 0 0 (1,002) 1985 644 28 18 4 0 0 (1,018) 1984 565 34 56 21 3 1 (593) 1983 495 49 68 31 29 0 (699) 1982 580 44 39 10 6 0 (539) 1981 568 37 49 21 4 0 (551) 1980 584 49 77 35 4 0 (731) 1979 510 39 50 38 48 1 (577)