Nuclear Fuel (Hansard, 3 December 1997)

§ Mr. Chaytor
To ask the President of the Board of Trade what assistance her Department has given for the 249W export of mixed oxide fuel from the United Kingdom within the last five years; what has been the cost of such assistance to date; what additional assistance is to be offered; and if she will estimate the future costs to be incurred during the next five years. [18498]

§ Mr. Battle
The Department has not given, or is scheduled to give, any financial assistance for the export of mixed oxide fuel from the United Kingdom.

§ Mr. Chaytor
To ask the President of the Board of Trade if she will list the total quantities of plutonium currently held(a) at Sellafield and (b) at Dounreay, indicating the form in which each category of plutonium is currently managed. [18411]

§ Mr. Battle
Details of the quantities of plutonium stored at United Kingdom nuclear facilities, including its form and ownership, are published by my Department each year. Copies of the latest annual plutonium figures for the year ended 31 March 1997 were published on 31 July 1997 and placed in the Library of House.

§ Mr. Chaytor
To ask the President of the Board of Trade which states have signed the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material; which of these have confirmed their ratification to the International Atomic Energy Agency; what states have to date notified the IAEA of(a) reservations and (b) withdrawals under Article 17 of the Convention; which parties to the Convention have proposed amending the Treaty since it was opened for signature; and how many prosecutions have been conducted to date under the convention. [18404]

§ Mr. Battle
The Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material was signed in the 1980s by: Argentina^*, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria^*, Canada, Czechoslovakia^*, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, European Atomic Energy Community^*, Finland, France^*, Federal Republic of Germany, German Democratic Republic^*, Greece, Guatemala^*, Haiti, Hungary^*, Indonesia^*, Republic of Ireland, Israel^*, Italy^*, Republic of Korea^*, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Mongolia^*, Morocco, Netherlands^*, Niger, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland^*, Portugal, Romania^*, South Africa^*, Soviet Union^*, Spain^*, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey^*, United Kingdom, United States of America and Yugoslavia. Of these, all except Dominican Republic, Haiti, Morocco, Niger, Panama, Romania and South Africa have confirmed their ratification to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Those marked with an asterisk notified the IAEA of reservations when signing the Convention. I am not aware of any of these reservations having been withdrawn or of any formal proposals for amendment to the Convention. There is no provision in the Convention for prosecutions to be conducted under it.