HC Deb 16 February 1994 vol 237 cc820-1W
Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will commission a health study of British nuclear test participants and their families in order to compare health and genetic records with the general population; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hanley

My Department has no plans for further studies regarding the British nuclear test veterans. As the recent National Radiological Protection Board report indicated that there was no risk to test participants, any effect on their families is therefore extremely unlikely.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what steps he will take to ensure that cases of leukaemia and myeloma among British nuclear test participants are included in the studies of the National Radiological Protection Board.

Mr. Hanley

The recently published NRPB study took account of cases of leukaemia and myeloma among British nuclear test veterans.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he proposes to take following the recent publication of the National Radiological Protection Board report into mortality and incidence of cancer in British nuclear test participants.

Mr. Hanley

We have noted the recent NRPB report, which concluded that there was no health risk to test participants.

Mr. Hinchliffe

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what efforts have been undertaken to assess the health risk to persons(a) not wearing protective equipment, (b) with a blue book entry and (c) present at the time of explosion, in connection with studies by the National Radiological Protection Board into British nuclear test participants.

Mr. Hanley

The recent NRPB report concluded that participation in the test programme had no detectable effect on participants' expectation of life or on their overall risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases.

United Kingdom regular forces
Year Royal Navy services Army Royal Air Force Gurkhas Total including Gurkhas
1979 66,588 92,899 72,741 742 232,970
1980 65,631 96,363 76,066 905 238,965
1981 70,526 96,653 77,862 1,258 246,299
1982 66,727 90,127 75,102 596 232,552
1983 66,257 88,977 73,605 1,167 230,006
1984 62,644 92,278 75,523 1,226 231,671
1985 60,300 93,021 76,230 1,226 230,777
1986 59,899 92,093 76,285 1,300 229,577
1987 60,899 90,616 76,578 1,201 229,294
1988 58,704 91,560 75,902 1,342 227,508
1989 58,131 88,481 73,583 1,170 221,365
1990 54,957 88,290 72,668 1,437 217,352
1991 53,512 82,392 71,982 1,373 209,259
1992 53,884 85,951 70,835 1,346 212,016
1993 52,805 82,605 66,775 1,397 203,582