Plutonium Stocks

Charles Hendry Excerpts

Monday 7th February 2011 Written Statements

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)]

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) will publish on 7 February a consultation on the long-term management of UK-owned separated civil plutonium.

Currently the UK’s plutonium is stored in facilities designed to meet high standards of safety and security, however there is a need to consider how it should be managed in the long term. This consultation sets out for public scrutiny Government’s preliminary view on the long-term management of the UK’s plutonium. In particular the consultation covers the security and proliferation sensitivities associated with continued storage of plutonium, and also how we can best manage it in the interests of future generations.

Copies of the consultation have been placed in Libraries of both Houses or can be obtained from the DECC website.

http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/open/open.aspx