§ Dr. Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith) of 29 June 1999,Official Report, column 116, on MOX shipments, if he will list the qualifications and career experience of the technical experts advising on the process of separating plutonium from MOX fuel. [92761]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 23 July 1999]I refer my hon. Friend to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to my hon. Friend the Member for Blaenau Gwent (Mr. Smith), 7 July 1999,Official Report, column 578. The advice in that reply was given by the Head of the Safeguards Office in the Department of Trade and Industry who has a first class honours degree in chemistry. This official worked initially for the Ministry of Defence at the Atomic Weapons Establishment, Aldermaston, dealing with plutonium chemistry, measurement methods and underground nuclear testing. He then moved to the UKAEA's Harwell Laboratory, where he led work on the development of radiometric instrumentation for the non-destructive measurement of nuclear materials. Before moving to the DTI as Head of the Radiation Dosimetry Branch of the National Physical Laboratory, this official was responsible for the UK's long-term research and development programme concerning the management and disposal of radioactive wastes at the then Department of the Environment. The official has been chairman of the IAEA' s Standing Advisory Group on Safeguards Implementation since August 1996.