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Proliferation in ParliamentBack to Proliferation in Parliament, September - November 2007 Westminster ParliamentKey to House of Commons Column Numbering
Nuclear TestingNuclear Weapons: Testing, Written Answers, 29 Oct 2007, Column 977WMr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records his Department holds on how many (a) British service personnel, (b) medical auxiliaries, (c) UK Atomic Energy Authority personnel, (d) Atomic Weapons Research Establishment personnel and (e) others took part in the British nuclear testing programme in the Pacific and Australia in the 1950s and 1960s. Derek Twigg: MOD does not hold statistics on overall participation in the tests. Three studies by the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB, now part of the Health Protection Agency) into mortality and cancer incidence among UK nuclear test veterans included 21,357 participants identified from MOD archives. This can be taken as a lower limit on the total number of people who participated in the tests. The NRPB studies count a total of 27,505 'involvements' from the 21,357 participants. The number of test involvements was greater than the number of participants because some people attended more than one test. The 27,505 involvements are broken down as follows:
The figure for AWRE staff includes a small but unspecified number from the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the title is of each document relating to British nuclear tests in (a) Australia, (b) Christmas Island and (c) Malden Island that has been withheld from public release at the National Archives. Derek Twigg: In accordance with the Public Records Acts, MOD withholds from release to the public at the National Archives files that are over 30 years old, or extracts from them, if and for so long as their contents are judged to be sensitive. Currently MOD holds 45 complete file parts and 10 extracts from file parts that relate to the nuclear tests in Australia, Christmas Island and Malden Island. Lists of all the documents contained within these files could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The files titles are as follows: Files
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File extracts
The Atomic Weapons Establishment holds on the same basis a large number of documents and files relating to nuclear tests. Their list has some 560 entries, and I will arrange for a copy of it to be placed in the Library of the House. Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment has been made of the potential adverse health effects of the use of dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane to control flies on Christmas and Malden Islands during their use in British nuclear warhead tests. Derek Twigg: The UK atmospheric nuclear tests took place in areas with high levels of tropical insect pests which presented a risk to health. To minimise this, aerial spraying of DDT was carried out. There is no reliable evidence that DDT causes adverse health effects in humans and MOD has not undertaken any specific assessment of the risks associated with the use of DDT in nuclear testing. Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether his Department (a) was invited to attend and (b) attended the meetings on nuclear test veterans held on 15 and 16 October 2007 at the House of Commons, chaired by the hon. Members for Norwich North and Billericay. Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence was invited to attend a parliamentary inquiry into the health effects of Operation Grapple (UK nuclear tests of 1957-58). MOD declined to be involved in this inquiry because its proposed scope is the subject of current civil proceedings. Two MOD officials attended the inquiry as observers. 29 Oct 2007 : Column 979W Mr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what information his Department holds on Fijian nationals who were present at the British nuclear tests in the Pacific. Derek Twigg: The Ministry of Defence holds limited information on Fijian nationals who were present at the British nuclear tests in the Pacific. Records held by the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) contain four pages listing the names of Fijian nationals involved, and the tests for which they were present. No radiation doses were recorded for any Fijian national. At Operation Mosaic, which took place in 1956 at the Monte Bello Islands off the North West coast of Australia, 32 Fijians were onboard HMS Newfoundland. Two Mosaic trials were held. At the first on 16 May, HMS Newfoundland was docked at Singapore. At the second on 19 June trial, the ship was approximately 565 nautical miles (approx. 940 km) west north west of the Monte Bello Islands. Operation Grapple comprised three trials which took place in May and June of 1957 off the Maiden Island; 42 Fijians were onboard the aircraft carrier, HMS Warrior, which was the Forward Area Control Ship for the trials, and the Task Force flagship. The flagship acted as the control centre for a group of ships stationed off Maiden Island during the trials. At a later trial, Operation Grapple Y, 23 Fijians were stationed at HMS Resolution. The Grapple Y trial took place on 28 April 1958 off the south east point of Kiritimati (formerly Christmas Island). From December 1957, HMS Resolution was the name used for the group of naval personnel based onshore at Kiritimati. HMS Resolution was situated at Port London, on the north west side of the island, approximately 43 km from the point of detonation. At a subsequent series of trials, Operation Grapple Z, 16 Fijians were attached to 269 Squadron. The series comprised four nuclear detonations at the south-east point of Kiritimati, which took place in August and September 1958. The duties performed by 269 Squadron during Operation Grapple Z were reconnaissance, meteorological patrol and air-sea rescue. More widely, AWE records indicate that the 'Fijian Military Force' was under 12 Independent Field Squadron from April 1958 to February 1959; under 36 Corps Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, from February 1959 to November 1959; and under 73 (Christmas Island) Squadron, Royal Engineers, from November 1959 to April 1960. Nuclear Weapons: Testing, 25 Oct 2007, Column 479WMr. Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what categories of records of human exposure to radiation during (a) British nuclear warhead tests and (b) plutonium dispersal tests at Maralinga are held by the Health Protection Agency. Derek Twigg: The Health Protection Agency (HPA) hold an epidemiological database which is used for the ongoing follow-up study of the UK participants in the UK Atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and experimental programmes at Maralinga, conducted between 1952 and 1964. The HPA epidemiological database includes details of individuals recorded as having been issued with film badges as well as recorded details of any external doses that had been incurred above the threshold of detection. In addition to the information on the database, HPA has carried out post mortem radiochemical analyses on tissues from four nuclear weapons tests participants, at the request of either a coroner or relatives of the individual. The results of these analyses have been passed to the relevant individuals and are not in the public domain and are not part of the epidemiological database. Back to Proliferation in Parliament, September - November 2007 © 2007 The Acronym Institute. |