HC Deb 12 January 1998 vol 304 cc26-7W
Mr. Chaytor

To ask the President of the Board of Trade what evidence has been obtained by her or her Department of quantities of plutonium being unaccounted for at(a) Sellafield and (b) Dounreay. [22070]

Mr. Battle

[holding answer 22 December 1997]: Figures for nuclear "material unaccounted for" (MUF), covering plutonium and uranium in civil nuclear plants, including Sellafield and Dounreay, have been published annually by the industry since 1977. The latest figures, for the year 1996–97, were published on 19 December 1997 (a copy of which will be placed in the Library of the House). The figures are subject to careful review by specialists in my Department, who remain satisfied that they are consistent with what would normally be expected for these types of facility and that there is no evidence to suggest that there has been any actual loss of material. Civil nuclear material in the UK is also subject to the independent oversight of international nuclear safeguards inspectorates and to rigorous physical protection measures by the nuclear operators.

Mr. Chaytor

To ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to her answer of 2 December,Official Report, columns 163–64. if she will list (a) the United Kingdom participants in the informal group on the management of civil plutonium, and their qualifications for participation and (b) the number and dates of meetings of the informal group; when the Government received a copy of the new guidelines to which reference is made; and when she intends to publish the details of the new national strategy for nuclear power and the nuclear fuel cycle. [22298]

Mr. Battle

The United Kingdom officials who participated in the informal group were: Department of Trade and Industry—Mr. Peter Agrell, formerly Director, Non-Proliferation, who chaired all but one meeting of the group; Mr. John Neve, Director, Non-Proliferation, who chaired the last meeting of the group on 29 September 1997; Mr. Carl Warren, Assistant Director, Nuclear Industries Directorate; and Foreign and Commonwealth Office—Mrs. Joanne Caley, Non-Proliferation Department. These officials are together responsible for the provision of policy advice to Ministers relating to the management of civil plutonium and associated non-proliferation issues.

The group met eleven times over a period of four years. The final text of the new guidelines was eventually agreed by correspondence in November 1997. I am arranging for a copy of the UK's national strategy for nuclear power and the nuclear fuel cycle to be placed in the Library of the House.

Forward to