Nuclear Power (Hansard, 7 July 1992)

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) if he will list for each year of operation since 1986 the percentage of the yearly total of nuclear material reprocessed at the Windscale B204 plant at Sellafield that arose from reactors operated by Nuclear Electric, Scottish Nuclear or their predecessor electricity boards:
(2) what proportion of the total weight of plutonium reprocessed at Sellafield, in the period 1986 to date, originated in Central Electricity Generating Board/ Nuclear Electric installations.

§ Mr. Eggar
The information has been extracted from the annual press releases on plutonium for the years in question as published by the former Department of Energy and placed in the Library of the House.
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Feed of civil magnox irradiated fuel to the Sellafield reprocessing plant

Tonnes of uranium

1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91

(a) From NE/SNL fuel¹ 861 772 787 988 688

(b) From overseas reactors 121 32 88 141 51

(c) (a) as a percentage of total 88 96 90 88 93

¹ The information given is for Nuclear Electric plc (NE) and Scottish Nuclear Ltd. (SNL) in 1989–90 and 1990–91 and for their predecessor generating boards in the earlier years.

Plutonium dispatched from magnox sites

Kilograms of plutonium

1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91

(d) From NE¹ 2,050 2,050 2,100 1,984 2,067

(e) From SNL¹ 250 200 200 160 111

(f) (d) as a percentage of total 89 91 91 93 95

¹ The information given is for Nuclear Electric plc (NE) and Scottish Nuclear Ltd. (SNL) in 1989–90 and 1990–91 and for their predecessor generating boards in the earlier years.

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will now make it his policy to make available through the Public Record Office or other appropriate routes all of those documents relating to the foundation of the civil nuclear programme withheld from public inspection beyond the 30-year period.

§ Mr. Eggar
[holding answer 30 June 1992]: The records in question continue to be reviewed in accordance with the criteria established under the Public Records Acts. Those which are withheld from public inspection beyond the 30-year period are progressively released as and when the reasons for their closure or retention cease to apply.

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to renegotiate the confidentiality clauses in intergovernmental plutonium export agreements to permit the wider publication of information on amounts and end-use declarations involved.

§ Mr. Eggar
Intergovernmental exchanges of notes covering the transfer of significant quantities of plutonium are published documents. They contain information on the quantity of material to he exported and a declaration of peaceful end-use.

Feed of civil magnox irradiated fuel to the Sellafield reprocessing plant
Tonnes of uranium
	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
(a) From NE/SNL fuel¹	861	772	787	988	688
(b) From overseas reactors	121	32	88	141	51
(c) (a) as a percentage of total	88	96	90	88	93
¹ The information given is for Nuclear Electric plc (NE) and Scottish Nuclear Ltd. (SNL) in 1989–90 and 1990–91 and for their predecessor generating boards in the earlier years.

Plutonium dispatched from magnox sites
Kilograms of plutonium
	1986–87	1987–88	1988–89	1989–90	1990–91
(d) From NE¹	2,050	2,050	2,100	1,984	2,067
(e) From SNL¹	250	200	200	160	111
(f) (d) as a percentage of total	89	91	91	93	95
¹ The information given is for Nuclear Electric plc (NE) and Scottish Nuclear Ltd. (SNL) in 1989–90 and 1990–91 and for their predecessor generating boards in the earlier years.