My honourable friend the Minister of State (Malcolm Wicks) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Attached are DTI revised figures for the United Kingdom's stocks of civil plutonium and uranium as at 31 December 2005, replacing those figures deposited in the Libraries of both Houses on 22 July 2006. Total stocks of plutonium in the UK are unaffected by the revision and remain at 139 tonnes at the end of 2005. The distribution of this total between the various material categories has been adjusted following the detection of a clerical error in the original data. We will send the revised figures to the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who will circulate them to member states. The revised figures will be available on the department's and the IAEA's websites.
Annual Figures for Holdings of Civil Unirradiated Plutonium National Totals as of 31 December 2005 (Previous year's figures in brackets) Rounded to 100 kilogrammes plutonium with quantities less than 50 kilogrammes reported as such (Tonnes) 1. Unirradiated separated plutonium in product stores at reprocessing plants. 101.1 (98.8) 2. Unirradiated separated plutonium in the course of manufacture or fabrication and plutonium contained in unirradiated semi-fabricated or unfinished products at fuel or other fabricating plants or elsewhere. 1.2 (1.0) 3. Plutonium contained in unirradiated MOX fuel or other fabricated products at reactor sites or elsewhere. 2.0 (1.9) 4. Unirradiated separated plutonium held elsewhere. 1.0 (0.9) Total 105.2 (102.7) Notes Plutonium included in lines 1-4 above belonging to foreign bodies. 26.5 (25.9) Plutonium in any of the forms in lines 1-4 above held in locations in other countries and therefore not included above. 0.9 (0.9) Plutonium included in lines 1-4 above which is in international shipment prior to its arrival in the recipient state. (0)
National Totals as of 31 Dec. 2005 (Previous year's figures in brackets) Rounded to 1000 kg plutonium with quantities less than 500 kg reported as such 1. Plutonium contained in spent fuel at civil reactor sites. 7 (7) 2 Plutonium contained in spent fuel at reprocessing plants. 27 (27) 3. Plutonium contained in spent fuel held elsewhere. Less than 500 kg (Less than 500 kg) Note: The treatment of material sent for direct disposal will need further consideration when specific plans for direct disposal have taken concrete form. Definitions: Line 1: covers estimated amounts of plutonium contained in fuel discharged from civil reactors; Line 2: covers estimated amounts of plutonium contained in fuel received at reprocessing plants but not yet reprocessed.
National Totals As of 31 Dec 2005 (Previous year's figures in brackets) 1. HEU stored at enrichment plants 0 kg (0 kg) 2. HEU at fabricating plants or at other reprocessing facilities 395 kg (446 kg) 3. HEU at civil reactor sites 0 kg (0 kg) 4. HEU at locations other than civil reactor sites, enrichment fabricating and reprocessing plants (eg laboratories, research centres) 953 kg (954 kg) 5. Irradiated HEU at civil reactor sites 10 kg (11 kg) 6. Irradiated HEU at locations other than civil reactor sites 132 kg (133 kg) Total 1,490kg (1,544 kg) The definition of high enriched uranium (HEU) is uranium enriched to 20 per cent or more in uranium 235
Annual figures for holdings of civil depleted, natural and low enriched uranium (DNLEU) in the civil nuclear fuel cycle 86,400 tonnes (84,000 tonnes) # # To nearest 100 tonnes