To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will institute an inquiry into the long-term health effects of radiation doses received by civilian fitters who worked on the refit of the nuclear reactors in the Royal Navy submarines HMS Renown, HMS Dreadnought, HMS Churchill and HMS Warspite.

I see no need for such an inquiry. I refer the hon. Member to my answer to the hon. Member for Clackmannan (Mr. O'Neill) on 19 October, Official Report, column 964.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the progress of the refit of HMS Churchill and on her future deployment.

My right hon. Friend announced in his statement on 25 July 1990 that the Royal Navy would maintain 16 submarines in the longer term, of which around three quarters would be nuclear powered. Following this announcement, the Government have decided to decommission a number of older nuclear-powered submarines, including HMS Churchill. Work on Churchill's refit has therefore stopped.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will institute an inquiry into the levels of radiation exposure received by civilian refit workers in the reactor room of HMS Renown in the early 1970s.

I see no need to institute such an inquiry. In all submarine refits individual exposure levels have been controlled in accordance with MOD and statutory instructions.