Britain can reuse around 17 tons of plutonium extracted from Japan's spent nuclear fuel on condition that Japan provides funding for the reprocessing of the material, which could be used to produce atomic weapons, a British nuclear expert has indicated.
Adrian Simper of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, a body linked to the British government, said in a recent interview at the NDA's office in Risley that weapons-grade plutonium taken from Japanese spent fuel and kept in Britain could be reprocessed as mixed oxide fuel and reused in the country to power reactors.
British government sources also said they have conveyed to the Japanese government their readiness to reuse plutonium from Japan under appropriate commercial terms.