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Radioactive Materials: Transport

Question for Ministry of Defence

UIN 27157, tabled on 11 February 2016

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the country of (a) origin and (b) destination was of each flight in a fixed wing aircraft or helicopter carrying or transporting Defence Nuclear Materials in the last five years.

Answered on

24 February 2016

In the last five years, 23 flights carrying Defence Nuclear Materials (DNM) were undertaken. All flights were between the UK and the United States on fixed wing aircraft under the control of UK Armed Forces. No such flights passed over Scotland, or involved the use of helicopters.

I am withholding details of the physical state, mass and radiological quantity of DNM transported as disclosure would or would be likely to prejudice national security.

The transport of DNM is carried out to the highest standard in accordance with stringent safety regulations. In over 50 years of transporting DNM in the UK, there has never been an incident that has posed any radiation hazard to the public or to the environment.