§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether substantial reprocessing facilities and/ or the possession of substantial quantities of plutonium in some states can present a potential threat to which neighbouring states may respond with similar programmes; whether they consider these congeries desirable; and if not, why are they contributing to them by increasing the availability of plutonium for stockpiling.
§ Baroness Chalker of WallaseyWe see no reason why states should not possess reprocessing facilities or plutonium provided that the states in question have made such facilities and materials physically secure, have undertaken a binding commitment to non-proliferation and have placed their nuclear materials and facilities under safeguards as appropriate. Plutonium supplier states who subscribe to the nuclear suppliers group guidelines are also required to satisfy themselves before they agree to supply that civil nuclear materials and facilities will not be misused. We take every appropriate opportunity to lobby states who have yet to adopt a formal commitment to non-proliferation to do so, by acceding to the NPT and concluding a safeguards agreement with the IAEA.