§ Mr. Malcolm BruceTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list the countries currently negotiating with AEA Fuel Services to reprocess or store research reactor irradiated fuel at Dounreay;
(2) if he will list the countries that have contracts with AEA Fuel Services or the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Agency to reprocess or store research reactor irradiated fuel at Dounreay.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonI understand that the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is currently in discussion with a number of overseas customers about possible contracts to store or reprocess spent research reactor fuel at Dounreay. Until these negotiations have been concluded, however, information on the countries involved is commercially confidential.
The UKAEA has confirmed contracts for storage or reprocessing with customers in Germany. The Government have specified that all reprocessing contracts entered into by the UKAEA with overseas customers must contain options for the return of waste and that these options should be exercised.