§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantities of(a) the core fuel and (b) the breeder blanket have been reprocessed annually at the Dounreay nuclear power development establishment for (i) the prototype fast reactor and (ii) the Dounreay fast reactor since each was commissioned; and where the arising plutonium is now stored or has been put to use.
§ Mr. EggarAn average of 19.2 PFR core fuel elements have been reprocessed annually and in the last year PFR breeder reprocessing commenced with 148 elements being reprocessed. An average of 576 DFR core fuel elements were reprocessed annually up to 1977 but no DFR breeder elements have been reprocessed. The plutonium arising from this reprocessing is stored under international safeguards at BNFL's Sellafield site. Some of the plutonium arising from reprocessing has been recycled into new fast reactor fuel which has been used to generate electricity.
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§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what quantities of(a) core fuel and (b) breeder blanket nuclear material remain inside prototype and demonstration fast reactors at Dounreay; and what proposals there are for reprocessing or direct disposal of both the core and breeder blanket from each reactor.
§ Mr. EggarThere are 83 core fuel elements and 34 breeder elements remaining inside PFR and 977 breeder elements and no core elements remaining inside DFR. Regarding proposals for reprocessing, I refer the hon. Member to my reply to the hon. Member for Nottingham, South (Mr. Simpson) on 18 May 1994,Official Report, column 469.