§ Lord Jenkins of Putneyasked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the purposes of nuclear reprocessing in this country and where is it carried out; what percentage is United Kingdom waste and why it has to be reprocessed; what percentage is from other countries; whether all the latter is returned to the country of origin after reprocessing; and whether the quantity of nuclear material being reprocessed in this country has increased and if so by how much.
§ The Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Clinton-Davis)Nuclear reprocessing has been carried out in the United Kingdom for nearly 40 years for both UK and overseas customers. Reprocessing involves chemically dissolving used (or spent) nuclear fuel to recover the plutonium and unused uranium which will be available for later use. Reprocessing is carried out by British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) at their Sellafield site and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) at their Dounreay site. Operational details are a matter for BNFL, and the UKAEA. Since 1976, all contracts for reprocessing used fuel from overseas have contained options for the UK to return waste to the countries of origin and the Government have made it clear that these options should be exercised.