Namibia: Uranium Coding (Hansard, 20 June 1989)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Energy (Baroness Hooper)
My Lords, in compliance with the terms of the Euratom treaty, it is not for Her Majesty's Government to seek to change the coding placed on imported nuclear materials by the Euratom safeguards authorities.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, perhaps I may ask the noble Baroness two questions. First, what do the British Government consider to be the supplying authority for the uranium which has been obtained by this country from Namibia? Is it South Africa or the Namibian junta? Secondly, is it not the case that if, as the noble Baroness has told me previously, the Government have no intention of using that uranium for defence purposes, they have full power—if they wish to take it—to ask Euratom to change that codification? That would be within the regulations of Euratom, as I have no doubt the noble Baroness is well aware.

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, I understand that the supplying authorities, or the appropriate authorities, to which the noble Lord referred in his original Question are the Namibian authorities under the overall tutelage of South Africa. So far as concerns the import of uranium for defence purposes, I have assured the noble Lord previously that no uranium ore from any source has been delivered to the United Kingdom for defence purposes since 1973. As to any change of safeguards codings, it is not for the receiving country to change the restrictions under which the material is supplied. That is a matter for Euratom in accordance with the treaty arrangements.

§ Baroness Sharples
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that, should the Rossing uranium mine in Namibia close, the future for that country would be very bleak indeed?

§ Baroness Hooper
Yes, my Lords. I understand that to be the case.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, does the noble Baroness recall that, on our last exchanges on the question of codification of uranium, she undertook to look into the matter of re-exports to the Soviet Union of fuel that has been reprocessed by British Nuclear Fuels plc? Are there such re-exports? Has she looked into the matter? What proportion of re-exports of British Nuclear Fuels' reprocessed fuel goes to the Soviet Union? Can the codification be changed?

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, BNFL receives uranium from overseas customers for processing and re-export, as we have established previously. The origin of such material is a matter for its customers and such material is under safeguards while in this country—safeguards which cannot be changed by this country.

§ Lord Mellish
My Lords, will the noble Baroness be good enough to tell us what the Question means? Does "N" to "P" mean "neutral to positive", or "Namibia to Pretoria"? I do not know what it is all about.

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, "N" is the Euratom coding for "no end use restrictions". "P" is the coding that relates to peaceful use only.

§ Lord Williams of Elvel
My Lords, I am sorry to press the noble Baroness. I wonder whether she will answer my question. What proportion of re-exports of reprocessed fuel goes to the Soviet Union?

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, I believe that that question does not relate directly to the Question on the Order Paper. I should therefore have to look into the matter before being able to give the noble Lord the facts for which he asks.

§ Lord Gisborough
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that that implied request for sanctions, leading to unemployment and poverty of the blacks, would be against the wishes of the majority of the blacks in South Africa and Namibia and would be counter-productive to the ideal of creating black empowerment through their education, prosperity and ability to demand the sharing of responsibility?

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, if my noble friend is referring to the Security Council Resolutions 283 and 301, as a matter of law, our view is the same as that of successive British Governments. The Security Council cannot take decisions that are generally binding on member states unless there has been a determination of the existence of a threat to peace, a breach of the peace or an act of aggression. We therefore believe that it is up to us to decide what arrangements we make for trading with Namibia.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, do I take it that the answer from the noble Baroness to my first Question indicates that British atomic policy can be controlled by the South African Government? As she did not answer my second question, is it not the case that, although she has assured the House that the uranium already obtained from Namibia will not be used for defence purposes, the Government have full power and authority—if they wish—to change that coding from "N" to "P" so that it is within the civil use of uranium alone and cannot be used for defence purposes? Is it not the case that it is only the uranium that this country has obtained from Namibia which is codified as "N" and can therefore be used for defence purposes?

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, the Euratom authorities which place the coding on the material that comes to this country are governed by the terms of the Euratom treaty. We in this country are bound by the terms of the UK-Euratom-IAEA safeguards agreement and our terms as treaty members. I can assure the noble Lord that the terms of both the treaty and the agreement are fully complied with. I can only say once again that it is not for the receiving country to change the coding placed upon imports by the Euratom authorities.

§ Lord Hatch of Lusby
My Lords, the noble Baroness has still not answered my question. Do not the British Government have both the power and authority, if they wish, to ask for that code to be changed? If they did so, is it not already clear that the Euratom authorities would welcome that request?

Noble Lords
Next Question!

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, I have already answered that question twice.