Written question asked by Lynne Jones (Labour) on Tuesday, 31 August 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 September 2004. It was answered by Denis MacShane (Labour) on Monday, 13 September 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when the UK Government became aware that Iraq had 500 tonnes of yellowcake stored at a facility near Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad.

Answer: Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when the UK Government became aware that Iraq had 500 tonnes of yellowcake stored at a facility near Tuwaitha, south of Baghdad. [187396] Mr. MacShane: Under UN Security Council resolution 687, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was mandated to investigate and dismantle Iraq's nuclear weapons programmes and to monitor all nuclear-related activity in Iraq. As part of this process, in the early part of the 1990s, the IAEA consolidated Iraq's stockpiles of nuclear materials and other radioactive sources on a single site near Tuwaitha for ease of on-going monitoring. The yellowcake in question was included in this exercise. It was also declared by Iraq as part of their Full, Final and Complete Declaration of nuclear activities and materials submitted to the UN in 1996. All of the materials consolidated at the site were subject to continuous IAEA inspection and verification.

Secondary information