§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many individual consignments of plutonium have been transported from the United Kingdom to Japan since 1979; what modes of transport were used; and to what use each consignment has been put.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Baroness Denton of Wakefield)Shipments of plutonium from the United Kingdom to Japan were made in the financial years 1979–80, 1980–81 and 1981–82. The shipments were made under safeguards for use in civil nuclear power research and development. The specific details are a matter for the operator concerned and its customers.
§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they have permitted the export of weapons-grade plutonium to Japan and whether they propose to permit its shipping from the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) in future.
§ Baroness Denton of WakefieldNo exports of plutonium from the United Kingdom to Japan have been, or will be, made for weapons purposes. THORP is a civil facility and plutonium arising from it will be supplied to Japan only under safeguards for use in that country's civil nuclear power programme. Her Majesty's Government only permits the export of civil plutonium to countries where we are satisfied that there will be no attempt to misuse the material.