SUBCOMMITTEE CHAIR

Mr ZAPPIA: I have several questions, but I'm simply going to ask two, and I would like very brief answers. You don't need to go into a lot of detail. Have there been any studies into the health effects of naval crews who have served on nuclear submarines? The second question is: has there ever been a nuclear submarine destroyed in battle, and, if so, what were the radiation effects, if any, as a result of that? Mr Sweeney : I'll start and then possibly hand over to Dr Green or Tim Deere-Jones. In relation to destroyed in battle, Mr Zappia, I'm not aware of any. There have been a number that have been destroyed or lost at sea. From the Thresher incident through to the Kursk , there have been a number that have been scuttled. I'm not familiar with the radiological release or the impact of those incidents, but there have been vessels that have been lost. In relation to studies of health effects on naval crews, I'm not familiar with radiation impact effect studies. I am familiar with studies around the increasing concern over mental health and wellbeing from extended periods of tours, and particularly given the Royal Navy is now extending its tours. It used to be 80 days; now they're 200—