WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3436/96 by David HALLAM to the Commission. Greenham Common nuclear accident in the 1950s
Date: 1996-11-27
Institutions: European Parliament, HALLAM
Subjects: EAEC Treaty, United Kingdom, access to information, blood disease, cancer, military base, nuclear weapon, radioactive pollution













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91996E3436

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3436/96 by David HALLAM to the Commission. Greenham Common nuclear accident in the 1950s  


Official Journal C 091 , 20/03/1997 P. 0084 





WRITTEN QUESTION P-3436/96 by David Hallam (PSE) to the Commission (27 November 1996)Subject: Greenham Common nuclear accident in the 1950sIs the Commission aware that a higher incidence of childhood leukaemia and clusters of cancer incidences have been reported to have been recorded by the United Kingdom Defence and Radiological Protection Service and the Nuclear Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, UK, around the area of the Greenham Common nuclear base in the United Kingdom?Is the Commission aware that these readings are understood to have not been released to the public?Can the Commission authorize an inquiry under the terms of the EURATOM Treaty which will establish whether information has been suppressed by HM Government, will give public access to all documents and monitoring relating to the Greenham Common nuclear base, and provide free health checks for any person who, by visiting or inhabiting the area, may have cause to fear a health rise due to exposure to leaked radiation, or by biological descent of persons visiting or inhabiting the area around Greenham Common?Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (20 December 1996)The allegations to which reference have been made relate to events which occurred before the United Kingdom became a signatory to the Euratom Treaty. However, to the extent that the alleged events may have led tocontinuing contamination of the environment, the Commission requested information from the United Kingdom authorities to request information. The reply confirmed that there was an accident, involving a United States B47 aircraft, at the Greenham common airbase in 1958. However, no nuclear weapons were involved. The United States authorities confirmed this to be the case in a statement issued, with the authority of the United States defence secretary, as recently as 23 July 1996.Moreover, environmental surveys carried out in the vicinity of the airbase in 1961 showed slightly higher than normal levels of uranium-235. The radiological impact of those levels of radioactivity has been shown to be insignificant. Subsequent surveys, in 1986 and in 1994, used more advanced and sensitive techniques than those which were available at the time of the 1961 study. Those later studies revealed no evidence of contamination, either on or around the base.The Commission has no reason to believe that the United Kingdom authorities are withholding information in respect of radiation hazards to the public associated with Greenham common airbase, and has no grounds, therefore, to pursue this matter further. Health checks of the type proposed are a matter for the United Kingdom authorities.