§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
- Whether spent nuclear fuel, imported for reprocessing before 1976 from non-EC countries and not covered by return-to-sender stipulations on its constituent parts, is subject to Article 86 of the Euratom Treaty; and
- Whether the plutonium and other nuclear materials in store at Sellafield awaiting reprocessing at Magnox or Thorp are deemed to be the property of the EC under Article 86 of the Euratom Treaty.
§ Lord StrathclydeArticle 86 of the Euratom Treaty states that special fissile materials shall be the property of the Community and that the Community's right of ownership shall extend to all special fissile materials (as defined in Article 197) which are produced or imported by a member state, a person or an undertaking and are subject to Euratom safeguards.
Equally, Article 87 qualifies that right of ownership by providing that states, persons or undertakings have unlimited right of use and consumption of these materials, subject to the obligations imposed on them by the treaty.
Article 75 states that the provisions of Chapter VIII of the Treaty (including Articles 86 and 87) shall not apply to special fissile materials covered by commitments entered into by a person or undertaking with an international organisation or a national of a third state, where the material is to be processed inside the Community and then returned either to the original organisation or national or to any other consignee likewise outside the Community designated by such organisation or national.
The question of whether any particular special fissile material, which is introduced into the United Kingdom for processing, is subject to Article 86 and 87, depends therefore on whether it is contemplated by the commercial arrangement in question that the special fissile material will be returned after processing to the original organisation or national outside the Community or any other designated consignee outside the Community.