§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy what assistance the United Kingdom has afforded the International Atomic Energy Agency in developing safeguards expertise under the provisions of article 12 of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
§ Mr. BaldryThe United Kingdom carries out a safeguards research and development programme in support of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The programme is carried out by AEA technology and currently costs approximately £1 million per year; the costs are borne by my Department.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Energy if Her Majesty's Government have ever made available details of technical studies conducted on safeguards implementation at United Kingdom nuclear reprocessing plants to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
§ Mr. BaldryYes. BNFL and the UKAEA provide technical studies to the IAEA when agreeing safeguards approaches for their facilities; these naturally include reprocessing issues. A safeguards research and development programme is carried out for the IAEA by the UKAEA and this involves some work on plant reprocessing studies. In addition, the international study group on large scale commercial plant reprocessing (LASCAR), in which the United Kingdom is involved, provides technical guidance to the IAEA.
The information given to the IAEA on reprocessing plant safeguards is either commercially sensitive or has security implications.