§ Mr. CorbynTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the claims against (i) his Department and (ii) the nuclear generating companies for nuclear contamination for each year since 1980; what is the value of each(a) claim and (b) settlement; and how many are currently outstanding. [15951]
§ Mr. Page[holding answer 17 February 1997]: Claims for compensation against alleged nuclear contamination have to be lodged in accordance with the terms of the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. Three claims have been made against the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry under section 16(3), all in 1991–92. None was successful and no cases are currently outstanding.
The nuclear industry operate a voluntary compensation scheme for radiation linked diseases, an industry/trade union "no fault" voluntary scheme, which covers the entire industry—both civilian and, more recently, military—rather than just the power generators themselves. Between its inception in 1982 and the end of 1996, this scheme paid out £3.25 million in compensation in a total of 73 cases out of around 650 claims.
To protect the identity of individual claimants, more detailed data on these claims and settlements cannot be made available.