§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if, pursuant to paragraph 72 of the Strategic Defence Review, Cm. 3999, he will list the current location of the(a) 7.6 tonnes of plutonium, (b) 21.9 tonnes of highly enriched uranium and (c) 15,000 tonnes of other forms of uranium. [51412]
§ Mr. SpellarThe majority of the holdings of plutonium, highly enriched uranium and other forms of uranium referred to in paragraph 72 of Cm. 3999 are held at various BNFL and Ministry of Defence sites. Smaller quantities are also held on various Defence contractors premises. Additionally, and subsumed in the overall totals of these materials, are the amounts in our nuclear weapons and the reactor cores of our nuclear submarines. To provide further information on locations would be contrary to national defence and security interests and details are being withheld under Exemption 1 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.
§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to paragraph 72 of the Strategic Defence Review, Cm. 3999, what is his Department's definition of weapons grade plutonium. [51413]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Ministry of Defence defines weapons grade plutonium as that which contains greater than 92 per cent. of the Plutonium-239 isotope.
200W