§ Mrs. Curtis-ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith), of 19 January 2000,Official Report, columns 487–88W, what progress has been made with the study of data on withdrawals of nuclear material from safeguards. [133861]
§ Dr. HowellsI am pleased to confirm that the study has now been completed and I have today placed in the Library of the House a paper containing detailed information on past withdrawals of nuclear material from safeguards. The paper includes tabulated data which show advance notifications of such withdrawals made pursuant to the UK/Euratom/IAEA safeguards agreement, broken down by year, material type and quantity, along with information on the reason for withdrawal. This information represents the outcome of the study of data on withdrawals from safeguards prior to announcement of the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR). Information is also included on withdrawals which have taken place since the SDR announcement in July 1998 and shows that such withdrawals have comprised only small quantities of material for use in instrument calibration or radiation detectors or as analytical tracers or radiological shielding. Information on future withdrawals will be made available on an annual basis.