Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if, pursuant to his reply to the hon. Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy,Official Report, 19 November 1987, column 618, on plutonium and safeguards, he will make a further statement on the current effectiveness of safeguards accounting systems in 504W the European Community, in the light of new information recently revealed concerning the Mol SCK/CEN nuclear centre in Belgium, the Nukem nuclear facility in the Federal Republic of Germany and the nuclear transport company Transnuklear.
§ Mrs. ChalkerA joint inspection by Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency into the safeguards aspects of the Mol/Transnuklear affair has produced no evidence of any failure of Euratom safeguards. We therefore have no further statement to make on our assessment of procedures for safeguarding weapons-grade nuclear material.
Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make it his policy to ensure that recent evidence concerning the inadequacy of EURATOM's capacity to safeguard weapons grade nuclear materials in Belgium and the Federal Republic of Germany are discussed at the meeting of NATO Ministers on 2 and 3 March, in the context of protection measures of NATO facilities against prospective threats from nuclear-armed terrorists.
§ Mrs. ChalkerA joint inspection by Euratom and the International Atomic Energy Agency into the safeguards aspects of the Mol/Transnuklear affair has produced no evidence of any failure of Euratom safeguards. My right hon. and learned Friend does not therefore intend to raise the subject at the NATO ministerial meeting.