§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on which occasions since 1968 the US Goverrment have notified Her Majesty's Government of changes in their policy towards the importing of plutonium from the UK under the UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement 1958; and what form such notifications took. [23807]
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§ Mr. SpellarI have been asked to reply.
The United States Government have not notified the United Kingdom of any policy changes regarding the importation of plutonium during this period.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what consultations the United States Government had with Her Majesty's Government prior to the release on 22 December of a US Department of Energy fact sheet on the quantity of plutonium acquired by the United States from the United Kingdom under the US-UK 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement on Atomic Energy matters. [23796]
§ Mr. SpellarI have been asked to reply.
There was full consultation between the Ministry of Defence and the United States Department of Energy prior to the release of the fact sheet, during which we gave our agreement to the text.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what variations have been made to Article 2 of the Amendment of 27 September 1968 to the agreement for co-operation on the uses of atomic energy for mutual defence purposes, of 3 July 1958. [23793]
§ Mr. SpellarI have been asked to reply.
Article 2 of the 1968 amendment refers to Article III bis of the 1958 UK-US Mutual Defence Agreement. Variations made to the wording of Article III bis since 1968 have been to extend the time limits for transfers of special nuclear materials together with two textual amendments. An amendment, Cmnd 9434, which entered into force on 16 November 1984 added a new paragraph C referring to the transfer from the United States of enriched uranium for military purposes. The most recent amendment to Article III bis is Cm 2785 which entered into force on 23 December 1994. This amendment (a) extends the time limit to December 31, 2004 and (b) advises of a textual change to one phrase in paragraph C.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what quantities of plutonium with a plutonium-240 content in the range two to 10 per cent. the United Kingdom has exported to the United States under the provisions of the 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement on atomic energy matters. [24049]
§ Mr. SpellarI have been asked to reply.
Between 1960 and 1979 the United Kingdom exported 0.1 metric tonnes of plutonium with a pu 240 content between 2 per cent. and 10 per cent. to the United States under the provisions of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement. I am withholding further information concerning other transfers under Category 1 of the exemptions to the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information concerning defence, security and international relations.