§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on progress made in environmental monitoring of depleted uranium shell test firing into the Solway firth.
§ Mr. AitkenWe have continued our well-established programme of analysing soil and vegetation samples from seven locations on the Kirkcudbright range every four months and seawater and silt samples from the nearby waters of the Solway firth once a year. In addition a contract was placed with an independent contractor, W. S. Atkins Environment of Epsom, on 13 December 1993 to undertake an environmental assessment of depleted998W uranium firing at the Kirkcudbright and Eskmeals ranges. The contractor is due to make his final report in April and, in letters to local MPs, I have recently reaffirmed my intention that as much as possible of the report should be made public.