A new report shows that some of the uranium which is missing and unaccounted for has seeped into the concrete floors at the nuclear plant. 10 kg of uranium was found when the floor in one part of the plant was dug up in 1973. More is likely to lie in other parts of the site.
In summer 1998 the Chief Executive of the UKAEA argued that there was an accounting discrepancy but no material was actually missing.
At around the same time Tony Blair refuted suggestions that some of the material may have ended up at the Aldermaston bomb factory. The latest report says that there were documented transfers of material from Dounreay to Aldermaston, but these did not explain the losses.
A spokewoman for UKAEA claimed that there was "no radiological problem" arising from the material which was recovered from the floors.