§ Mr. Alfred Morrisasked the Secretary of State for Energy, further to the answer of 9 April, Official Report, to what the discussions referred to by the hon. Member for Croydon, Central (Mr. Moore) were preliminary; and why the matter of the possible export of United Kingdom plutonium to the United States of America for use in the fast reactor programme has not been pursued.
§ Mr. Giles ShawIn 1981 the United States Government made a tentative approach for the acquisition of United Kingdom plutonium for use in their fast reactor programme. The discussions that took place were preliminary in the sense that no firm proposals were made; they were not a preliminary to any further action. Indeed, there have been no subsequent discussions of any kind as the proposal was not pursued by the United States Government for their own reasons.