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Nuclear Industry

Volume 454: debated on Wednesday 6 December 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether all nuclear material produced in the UK is traceable to a specific reactor. (106550)

[holding answer 30 November 2006]: Nuclear safeguards arrangements apply to nuclear material (i.e. plutonium, uranium and thorium) as defined in international safeguards agreements. Such safeguards do not apply to other radioactive substances. Safeguards materials accountancy and operating records for reactors will include information on what has been produced in them. After fuel has been reprocessed however, as in any other bulk process, tracking is not accurate at the atomic level.