§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Woodspring (Dr. Fox) of 15 March,Official Report, column 73, if he will list the critical applications of ozone-depleting substances considered essential to his 132W Department's work; what are the annual amounts of each substance involved in each application; and to what extent there are any losses to the atmosphere of process emissions.
§ Mr. AitkenMy Department considers only those applications of ozone-depleting substances that meet the following UNEP halon technical options committee essential use criteria as critical
A critical need must exist to minimise damage due to fire, explosions or extinguishing agent application, which would otherwise result in serious impairment of an essential service to society, or pose an unacceptable threat to life, the environment, or national security; andAll other appropriate fire protection measures have been taken".These applications can be found in, inter alia, installed equipments on ships, aircraft and in armoured vehicles. This list is under continuous review. Some 252 tonnes of halons and 425 tonnes of CFCs will be banked to support these critical applications. To preserve these and stocks within systems stringent measures are in place to reduce emissions to the atmosphere.