HC Deb 30 November 1990 vol 181 cc539-40W
Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the nuclear weapon accident exercises held by his Department in the last five years.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

For each of the last five years, the number of nuclear weapon accident exercises held by the Ministry of Defence has been as follows:

Number
1986 3
1987 3
1988 5
1989 3
11990 3
1 To date.

These figures do not include exercises arranged by units or establishments on a local basis.

Mr. Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence under what conditions local government officials and Members of Parliament are allowed to observe nuclear weapon accident exercises.

Mr. Archie Hamilton

Exercises are conducted by the Ministry of Defence to test the effectiveness of arrangements for response in the extremely unlikely event of a nuclear weapons accident. Invitations to observers are limited to those directly involved in emergency response planning.

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