Saturday’s flight was the first movement of material held at the Caithness plant to the US since an announcement in February. David Cameron, who was prime minister at the time, said the UK and US governments had agreed to an exchange of nuclear materials. He said the UK would receive a type of uranium used to diagnose cancer. But Highlands and Islands SNP MSP Maree Todd has criticised the weekend’s flight and the level of secrecy surrounding the handling of nuclear material at Dounreay. She said there should not be a need for an exchange of nuclear material, and the UK should be able to purchase what it requires for medical diagnoses. During the 1990s, nuclear material was sent from abroad to Dounreay for reprocessing. The customers included power plants and research centres in Australia, Germany and Belgium. Under the UK-US deal signed earlier this year, highly-enriched uranium (HEU) stored at Dounreay is being sent to the US. Saturday’s flight took place under tight security from Wick John O’Groats Airport, which is about 30 miles (48km) from the Dounreay nuclear site. It involved a US military Boeing C-17 transport aircraft.
BBC 19th Sept 2016 read more »