Page 8 from FCO 96991 - Non-Proliferation 'Grey Areas' 1979-2

The letter discusses the feasibility of creating a list of essential items not included in the NSG Trigger List for nuclear fuel processes. It highlights the complexity of such a task, using the example of reprocessing operations that involve numerous separate stages and thousands of individual items. Identifying unique equipment specifically for a processing plant would require careful analysis of purchase specifications. The letter also mentions the potential for countries to deliberately deceive by having different specifications and emphasizes the difficulty of identifying certain equipment.