§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will publish the minutes of the discussions between Her Majesty's Government and the Governments of the USA and Georgia concerning the forthcoming shipments of radioactive material from Georgia to the United Kingdom. [39900]
§ Mr. Tony Lloyd[holding answer 30 April 1998]: In July 1997 US officials approached the UK and France, via our respective Embassies in Washington, to ask whether we would consider accepting approximately 5kg of fresh and spent highly enriched uranium fuel from Tbilisi, Georgia. The US also provided written details of the fuel. The proposal was subsequently considered by UK Ministers and officials. In early February 1998 the UK informed the US that we had decided to accept the material. After the decision to accept the fuel had been made, UK and US officials met to discuss how best to arrange to transport the fuel to the UK safely, securely and in conformity with national and international requirements. No official minutes were taken at that meeting.
No discussions were held between the UK and Georgian Governments prior to UK agreement. The British Embassy in Tbilisi informed the Georgian Government of our decision on 2 March.
Papers relating to this transfer will be laid in the House shortly, in line with the commitment made by the Minister of State, my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, North (Mr. Henderson) on 22 April 1998, Official Report, columns 821–27.