J Ashton Esq
FED
RESTRICTED
нис 166/
BRITISH EMBASSY
MADRID
August 1986
RECLIVE.
15 AUC 1936
STRY
Take
416
QUA Cydy
FCO
Dear Ashton,
SPAIN/CHINA:
DEPOSIT OF NUCLEAR WASTE
хра R2
14/0
Peter Thomson wrote to you on 10 June recording inter alia a statement by a Spanish Embassy representative in Peking about recent negotiations between the Spanish nuclear waste enterprise and the Chinese Ministry of Nuclear Industry.
2. I took advantage of a recent call on the Director for Multi- lateral Scientific-Technical Cooperation in Energy Matters at the MFA here to encuire about this and have also made enquiries with a friendly contact in Empresa Nacional de Residucus Radioactivos, the company concerned.
3. Both of them confirmed the matter was discussed very tenta- tively at the talks in Peking. However, the likely cost of the operation made it most unlikely for Spain to enter into any form of negotiation with the Chinese, at least for a number of years. But it was one of several possibilities which they were considering in the context of their plans to deal with the disposal of high level radioactive waste. They would wait and see what others and the Germans in particular did in their negotiations with the Chinese.
4. I have been assured that the subject was not discussed at the talks held recently on the occasion of the Chinese President's visit to Madrid.
Your www.
سو
Richard Some
for
CT Humphrey
TAB Thomson Esq, Feking
cc:
NED, FCO
RESTRICTED