Annual information on holdings of civil plutonium in the UK have been published for the last twenty five years. In 1997, the UK, along with Belgium, China, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Switzerland and the US, reached agreement on a set of Guidelines for the Management of Plutonium. These include a commitment to publish annual figures for national holdings of civil plutonium at the end of each calendar year to improve transparency and public confidence. The Guidelines were also intended to improve consistency in the different national figures. In 1998, Ministers agreed that the practice of publishing figures for stocks of civil plutonium be extended to cover high enriched uranium (HEU) and depleted, natural and low enriched uranium (DNLEU) in the civil nuclear cycle. The commitment to publication includes sending the figures to the IAEA in Vienna, who make them available on their website, along with those of the other eight countries above. The figures are compiled from records supplied by the licensed holders of such materials in the UK: British Energy, Sellafield Limited, Calder Hall and Chapelcross Reactors, Springfields Fuels Limited, Magnox North, Magnox South, Research Sites Restoration Limited/Dounreay Site Restoration Limited, Urenco/Enrichment Technology (UK) and Imperial College (Ascot).
| National Totals | as of 31 Dec 2010 (Previous year’s figures in brackets) Rounded to 100 kg plutonium with quantities less than 50 kg reported as such TONNES |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1. Unirradiated separated plutonium in product stores at reprocessing plants. | 110.3 | (107.7) |
| 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. | 1.4 | (1.3) |
| 3. Plutonium contained in unirradiated MOX fuel or other fabricated products at reactor sites or elsewhere. | 2.1 | (2.1) |
| 4. Unirradiated separated plutonium held elsewhere. | 1.0 | (0.9) |
| Total | 114.8 | (112.1) |
| Note: | ||
| (i) Plutonium included in lines 1-4 above belonging to foreign bodies. | 28.0 | (27.7) |
| (ii)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) |
| (iii) Plutonium included in lines 1-4 above which is in international shipment prior to its arrival in the recipient State. | 0.0 | (0) |
| (Previous year’s figures in brackets) Rounded to 1000 kg plutonium with quantities less than 500 kg reported as such Tonnes |
||
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plutonium contained in spent fuel at civil reactor sites. | 8 | (8) |
| 2. Plutonium contained in spent fuel at reprocessing plants. | 25 | (26) |
| 3. Plutonium contained in spent fuel held elsewhere. | Less than 500kg | (Less than 500kg) |
| National Totals | As of 31 Dec 2010 (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 | 346 kg | (346 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 (e.g. laboratories, research centres) | 912 kg | (916 kg) | |
| 5. Irradiated HEU at civil reactor sites | 10 kg | (10 kg) | |
| 6. Irradiated HEU at locations other than civil reactor sites | 131 kg | (131 kg) | |
| Total | 1,400 kg | (1,404 kg) | |
The definition of high enriched uranium (HEU) is uranium enriched to 20% or more in uranium 235.
105,500 tonnes (100,500 tonnes)#
# To nearest 100 tonnes