Letters
Argentina and the CEGB
Sir: Last month an article in the Times, 'Argentina A-Bomb fears grow', described the increasing concern at that country's involvement in nuclear technology and its capability to produce nuclear weapons.
The Central Electricity Generating Board recently disposed of its option to buy 143 tonnes of heavy water, valued at £75 million, from the United States. Before the Falklands war this option was destined to be acquired by Argentina, but since the deal was interrupted by the crisis it has now become necessary for negotiations to be concluded through a third party, West Germany, from whom, apparently, the Argentinians plan to divert processed uranium.
At the Sizewell B inquiry we heard recently that the CEGB had dropped proposals for heavy water moderated reactors in favour of the now notorious pressurised water reactors, and that it had no means of obtaining the quantities of heavy water needed for the moderated plants.
If the CEGB is now so blatantly helping the Argentinians to acquire the wherewithal to manufacture their own nuclear weapons, does this not constitute a betrayal of the Falkland Islanders, of the taxpayers who finance 'Fortress Falklands', of the forces who protect the islands and the memory of those who died there?
Robin Hare
Vale Farm, Middleton, Saxmundham, Suffolk.
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