§ 63. Mr. Brockwayasked the Prime Minister what uranium supplies are provided to Great Britain and the United States of America, respectively, through the Combined Development Agency operating in South Africa; what proportion of British supplies are received from this source; how far the British supplies are used for nuclear weapons or for civilian purposes, respectively; what profits are permitted to the South African branch of the agency; and what safeguards are required regarding conditions of labour at the mines and to prevent racial discrimination.
§ The Prime MinisterDuring the year 1957, concentrates equivalent to between 5,000 and 6,000 tons of uranium oxide will have been sold by the South African Atomic Energy Board to the Combined Development Agency and allocated between the United States Atomic Energy Commission and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, according to their respective needs. During this year, much the greater part of the Authority's supplies will have been secured from South Africa. It would not be in the public interest to say in what proportions the Authority's supplies of uranium are allocated between defence and civil use.
The Agency does not operate in South Africa except in the sense that it is a buyer of uranium from the South African Atomic Energy Board. Relations between the Board and the uranium mines, and conditions at the mines, are matters solely concerning the Government of the Union.