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UK revises mistaken plutonium figures for IAEA

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Jan 11, IRNA
UK-Plutonium Stocks
The British government has admitted in making a mistake in plutonium stock figures submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that is designed to ensure civil nuclear materials are not diverted for military use.

In a written statement to parliament published Thursday, Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said various material categories had been adjusted following the detection of a clerical error in the original data.

But he insisted that the total stocks of plutonium in the UK are "unaffected by the revision and remain at 139 tons at the end of 2005."
The revised figures were being sent to the director-general of the IAEA, who will circulate them to other member states, the energy minister told MPs.

The figures show that the total stocks of UK civil unirradiated plutonium, which has been extracted from spent fuel rods but not yet reintroduced into nuclear reactors, were 105.2 tons, up from 102.7 tons at the end of the previous year.

In addition, the extracted amounts of plutonium contained in spent fuel at civil reactor sites and at reprocessing plants were 34 tons, the same as at the end of 2004.

Wicks also listed that the UK held a further 26.5 tons of civil unirradiated plutonium belonging to foreign bodies and that 0.9 tons of unirradiated plutonium was held at locations in other countries, which was not included in the total.

Figures for holdings of civil high enriched uranium totaled 1,490 kg at the end of 2005, while the annual stock of civil depleted, natural and low enriched uranium in the civil nuclear fuel cycle was listed at 86,400 tons.

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