Parliamentary Answers on
*27 Feb 2009 : Column 1149W
*Nuclear Weapons*
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British
personnel were involved in the design competition for the Reliable
Replacement Warhead. [258416]
*Mr. Hutton:* No.
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether British
personnel were briefed on the results of the Reliable Replacement
Warhead design competition. [258417]
*Mr. Hutton:* Officials from the Ministry of Defence and the Atomic
Weapons Establishment regularly discuss a range of nuclear matters with
their US counterparts under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence
Agreement. I am withholding information about the detail of these
discussions in the interests of national security.
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the date
was of each meeting of the Joint Working Group since 2001; and what the
purpose of each meeting was. [258424]
*Mr. Hutton:* The following Joint Working Groups (JOWOGS) operate under
the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement:
/Joint working group/ /Title/
6
Radiation Simulation and Kinetic Effects
9
Energetic Materials
22
Nuclear Materials
23
Warhead Electrical Components and Technologies
28
Non-Nuclear Materials
29
Nuclear Counter-Terrorism Technology
30
Facilities
31
Nuclear Weapons Engineering
32
Nuclear Warhead Physics
34
Computational Technology
36
Aircraft, Missile and Space System Hardening
37
Laboratory Plasma Physics
39 Manufacturing Practices
41 Nuclear Warhead Accident Response
42 Nuclear Weapon Code Development
43 Nuclear Weapon Environment and Damage Effects
44 Methodologies for Nuclear Weapon Safety Assurance
Since January 2001 the following number of JOWOG and JOWOG—related
meetings have taken place:
/Meetings in the US/ /Meetings in the UK/ /Total number of meetings/
2001
118 62 180
2002
133 66 199
2003
133 58 191
2004
118 87 205
2005
168 75 243
2006
159 80 239
2007
207 91 298
*27 Feb 2009 : Column 1150W*
2008
187 93 280
2009 (to date)
23 10 33
I am withholding further detail of the content of JOWOG discussions
in the interests of national security.
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what visits
have been made by /(a)/ US personnel to Aldermaston and /(b)/
Aldermaston personnel to (i) Los Alamos, (ii) Sandia and (iii)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories in each year since 2003;
and what the purpose of each of those visits was. [258427]
*Mr. Hutton:* The total number of visits by Atomic Weapons
Establishment personnel to each of the US national laboratories and
vice versa in support of all aspects of work covered by the Mutual
Defence Agreement (including the Polaris Sales Agreement—as amended
for Trident), is as follows:
/To Los Alamos/ /From Los Alamos/
2003
228 242
2004
130 215
2005
183 152
2006
194 170
2007
312 182
2008
217 255
2009 (to date)
35 37
/To Sandia/ /From Sandia/
2003
155 104
2004
162 103
2005
271 70
2006
213 104
2007
288 151
2008
291 185
2009 (to date)
93 13
/To Lawrence Livermore/ /From Lawrence Livermore/
2003
104 87
2004
123 93
2005
205 105
2006
156 97
2007
217 143
2008
149 140
2009 (to date)
28 13
These figures include personnel making more than one visit, and
visits to several sites during a single trip.
I am withholding further detail of the purpose of these visits in
the interests of national security.
*Nick Harvey:* To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether
scientists from the United States have made use of hydrodynamic
facilities at the Atomic Weapons Establishment for experiments on US
warhead designs. [258434]
*27 Feb 2009 : Column 1151W*
*Mr. Hutton:* Under the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement, joint UK/US
hydrodynamic experiments have been carried out to ensure the
continued safety, security, and performance of our current nuclear
stockpiles.
