§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Secretary of State for Energy what weight and what proportion of spent nuclear fuel returned to the United Kingdom from magnox reactors in Italy and Japan has been reprocessed; and what safeguards apply to the reprocessed plutonium.
§ Mr. GoodladAs my hon. Friend the Member for Pudsey (Mr. Shaw) said in his reply to the right hon. Member for Salford, East (Mr. Orme) on 5 March 1984 at column393, the quantities of spent fuel received from individual countries are commercial-in-confidence. At October 1985 approximately 80 per cent. of the receipts of spent magnox fuel from the reactors at Latine (Italy) and Tokai Mura (Japan) has been reprocessed.
Whilst in the United Kingdom the plutonium produced by reprocessing this spent fuel is subject to Euratom safeguards and inspection and to appropriate IAEA safeguards. In respect of returned plutonium I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 16 April 1985 at column 123.
§ Mr. Chris Smithasked the Secretary of State for Energy what proportion of the plutonium produced by the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from electricity board reactors by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd at Sellafield, for each of the last five years, have been subsequently (a) allocated for defence purposes, (b) stored for future civil use, (c) supplied to Dounreay for use in the prototype fast-breeder programme and (d) allocated to other users.
§ Mr. GoodladNone of the plutonium produced over the last five years has been used for defence purposes. All of the plutonium produced from reprocessing the board's spent fuel has been stored on their behalf by BNFL.