§ Mrs. Bridget PrenticeTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the transportation by air of plutonium in containers which do not meet the standards stipulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency; when this method of transporting plutonium began; why this method of transportation was chosen; and what assessment has been made of the likely effects if any of the aeroplanes which are used to transport plutonium were to be involved in a crash.
§ Mr. Kenneth CarlisleI know of no instance when plutonium has been transported in or over the UK in containers that did not meet the standards stipulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In its report "The Transport of Civil Plutonium by Air", published in 1988, the advisory committee on the safe transport of radioactive material concluded that the health risk to people from the current transport of civil plutonium by air to and from the United Kingdom is not only extremely remote but also acceptable.