Nuclear Information Service

As a public service, NIS monitors and reports on non-sensitive developments at and about British nuclear weapons production related sites.

NIS publishes material relating to the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Aldermaston and Burghfield sites, located in the southern English County of West Berkshire. Since the 1950s, AWE is where the design, production, assembly, maintenance, disassembly and decommissioning of nuclear weapons takes place. Between 2004 and 2015, building developments are underway to enable a new generation of warheads to be researched and designed without underground nuclear testing. See monthly NIS Updates on the new developments at AWE.

Other nuclear weapons related sites include the Clyde facilties at RNAD Coulport and the Naval Base Faslane; RRMPOL Derby and DML Devonport. All these sites creat nuclear discharges and waste.

Ibex House
85 Southampton Street
Reading
RG1 2QU
United Kingdom

Tel / fax: 0118 327 7489
email: office(at)nuclearinfo.org

Forthcoming events

Nagasaki Day Lecture

Dr Christopher Gerteis, Lecturer in the History of Contemporary Japan at SOAS, will be talking about life in Hiroshima and Hagasaki before and after the atomic bombings of August 1945.

The lecture will examine artefacts on display at the exhibition 'After the Bomb Dropped: How Hiroshima and Nagasaki Suffered' at Friends House, London.

7 - 8.30 pm, Monday 9 August 2010

Room 7, Friends House, 173 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ

Exhibition open 10 am - 5.30 pm daily, 2 - 12 August. Admission free.

latest tweet from NIS:

New VERTIC report 'Verifying warhead dismantlement: past, present, future' on UK Norway Initiative now available at http://bit.ly/9ntRdv

latest on Peter Burt's blog

NIS calls for independent inquiry into Aldermaston fire
Safety questions unanswered for AWE's Project Hydrus
A street survey shows that 61% of local people are opposed to AWE's Project Pegasus.
Council accused of sneaking through nuclear plans during Christmas rush.
Aldermaston's £500 million new uranium project - read our special briefing.
New AWE emergency plan highlights chilling consequences of a nuclear accident
Emergency services could not cope with Southampton nuclear submarine accident
Nuclear submarine waste bound for AWE?
MOD Stops Live Nuclear Work at AWE due to preasure from NII over safety risks..
2008 Annual Report released by NIS.
A New Film Exposes Deadly Cargo on British Roads..

Hansard on Control of Atomic Weapons Establishment - 26th Jan 09

2009-01-26 17:46

/Asked by **Lord Astor of Hever**/

*26 Jan 2009 : Column WA3*

     To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they retain full ownership
     and control of all the assets of the Atomic Weapons Establishment,
     Aldermaston, notwithstanding the appointment of a consortium
     company to manage the establishment; and, if so, (a) in whom that
     ownership and control is vested; and (b) in what documents their
     working arrangements with that management company are set out. [HL771]

/Answer/

*The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Baroness Taylor of Bolton):* The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) operates under Government-owned contractor operated arrangements. AWE has been contractorised since 1993. The UK Government have retained full ownership and control of all AWE assets, vested in the Secretary of State for Defence.

The management and operation of AWE have been contracted to AWE Management Limited (AWEML) since 1 April 2000. Day-to-day operations are undertaken by a separate company, AWE plc, which is owned by AWEML and has its own board of directors with no AWEML parent company affiliations. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) holds a special share in AWE plc, which would allow intervention in the management of AWE or the transfer of responsibility to another contractor if that became necessary.

The AWE contract is managed by the Directorate Strategic Weapons (DSW) in the Defence Equipment and Support area of the MoD. DSW works with a wide range of stakeholders in the MoD and other government departments.

The primary document that defines the relationship between the MoD and AWEML is the contract between the parties. This requires the MoD to be consulted in respect of any changes to the composition of AWEML. Such consultation took place in respect of the recent changes in ownership of AWEML, which has no bearing on the ownership and control of AWE assets. Strategic requirements and the UK deterrent programme are set by the UK Government. UK nuclear forces will remain fully operationally independent; decision-making and the use of the system remains entirely sovereign to the UK.