Pages 185-186 from FCO 96/1077

The document is a confidential letter from the Department of Energy, directed to J. Thorp Esq of the Joint Nuclear PCO, discussing Pakistani interests in inverters as reported during meetings of the URENCO Security Working Party.

1. Mr. Manley raised the issue of apparent Pakistani interest in acquiring inverters back in 1975, referring to previous correspondences from Robert Alston and David Carter.

2. Mr. Hawkins confirmed that the Dutch had noted the Pakistani approach to Emerson about purchasing inverters in the margins of a Security Working Party meeting in October 1975.

3. Hawkins reported that the action BNFL had taken was as recorded in Mr. Bartlett's minute to Mr. Halifax dated 4 September 1975, and no further action was proposed by his Dutch or German colleagues.

4. The decision was considered in light of several points: a) The specific model of inverter mentioned by Bartlett was unclassified, so there was no reason to suspect a security breach in Holland. b) Inverters have a wide range of uses outside the nuclear field. c) Pakistan was not recognized as a "sensitive" country in proliferation terms at that time.

5. Hawkins also mentioned that the issue of inverters and Pakistan had been brought up again in late 1978 during a security working party meeting following Frank Alla's incident. The Dutch security officer reported that representatives of the Dutch firm Compricw had visited Pakistan and had been debriefed on return, but nothing significant emerged from this, and no action was taken.