asked the Secretary of State for Social Services what studies have been carried out into the differing reactions of individuals to exposure to radiation.

[pursuant to his reply, 22 April 1980, c. 118]: Studies in this country, of which I am aware, are concerned with the comparative sensitivity to radiation of cells from normal individuals and cells from those with various diseases of genetic origin, and with radiation-induced gene mutation in human cells. Work has been or is being carried out at the Medical Research Council's cell mutation unit at the University of Sussex, as part of an integrated programme supported by the Council of the European Communities; at the University of Birmingham's department of cancer studies; and at the Medical Research Council's radiobiology unit at Harwell.