§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what action he has taken in relation to the conclusions on page seven of the report commissioned by his Department from the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority on a post-Chernobyl survey of radionuclides in Wales from August to October 1986.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe report to which the hon. Gentleman refers is one of many dealing with the effects of radioactive deposition from Chernobyl within the United Kingdom as a whole. Since the accident there have been a wide range of laboratory and field studies to improve our understanding of the behaviour of the fallout from Chernobyl in the affected areas, including north Wales.
The recommendations for further work in this particular report are being followed up. The Welsh Office is currently funding a project examining the dynamics of caesium in soils in upland Wales. As part of its wide ranging research programme the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has also funded work in the migration of radiocaesium in peat, as well as into the presence of strontium 90 in crops before and after the Chernobyl accident.
Following the Chernobyl accident a comprehensive monitoring programme of all foodstuffs likely to be affected was undertaken in Wales. The results indicated that radioactivity levels were generally well below those at which action was necessary to protect the safety of the food chain—with the exception of sheepmeat from certain parts of north Wales. As a result, sheep movement and marketing restrictions remain in force.