Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the Written Statement of 24 January 2025 on the Plutonium Disposition Strategy, what work was undertaken to investigate the possibility of reuse as CANMOX and what the result of this work was.

The Department and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) considered reuse as CANMOX as part of their assessment of options for plutonium disposition. This work concluded that CANMOX was technically viable but was less mature than other options and would require further development before it could be deployed at industrial scale.

It was found that immobilisation would put the plutonium beyond reach sooner and with greater confidence than re-use.

Not all of the plutonium would be suitable for re-use in fuel, so an immobilisation programme would always be required for part of the inventory.