Aldermaston Research Station (Hansard, 17 January 1972)

§ 4. Mr. Booth
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is the total cost of the extensions to Aldermaston Research Station made during the last 10 years.

§ The Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr. David Price)
It would not be in the public interest to disclose this information.

§ Mr. Booth
How is Parliament to exercise any parliamentary control over either the civil or the military research that takes place at Aldermaston if the Minister is not prepared to give the House figures even as to the total of the continual costs being incurred there?

§ Mr. Price
On questions relating to defence research, it has been customary not to disclose to the House detailed figures of this nature.

§ 5. Mr. Hugh Jenkins
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what civil projects are currently being undertaken at Aldermaston Research Station.

§ Mr. David Price
Major civil projects at Aldermaston include work for the Authority's reactor programme; nuclear repayment work for the Science Research Council, the Central Electricity Generating Board and others; and non-nuclear work, mainly for Government Departments on repayment, on topics such as biomedical engineering and micro-circuit technology.

§ Mr. Jenkins
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman but, nevertheless, is not more than 85 per cent. of the work carried out at Aldermaston still military in character? What steps is the hon. Gentleman taking further to increase the civil content?

§ Mr. Price
Regarding the latter part of the question, in the statement made by my right hon. Friend in this House and by my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Defence in another place, it was made clear that responsibility for the transfer would fall to my noble Friend the Secretary of State for Defence and that part of those arrangements for the transfer would be discussions with the Atomic Energy Authority for the continuation of civil work.

§ Mr. Frank Allaun
Is it not reasonable to suppose that more attention would be given to civil nuclear work at Aldermaston if it were restored to the Ministry of Health instead of being transferred to the Ministry of Defence, which will naturally have a dominant and decisive roôle in its activities?

§ Mr. Price
The hon. Member has not quite got his responsibilities right. In so far as any medical work has been done at the A.W.R.E., it has not been the responsibility of the Ministry of Health. The A.W.R.E. has merely done it on contract, and these arrangements are in no way altered by the transfer of responsibility from the Atomic Energy Authority to the Ministry of Defence.

§ 6. Mr. Kinnock
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total acreage of land used by the Aldermaston Research Station during its first year of operation; and what is the total acreage of land now used.

§ Mr. David Price
The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston was established in 1950 on a disused airfield of approximately 880 acres. There has been no significant change in the size of the site since then.

§ Mr. Kinnock
Is this why there has been no significant change in civil projects, or am I wrong in believing that there has been no increase in civil projects?

§ Mr. Price
Since the establishment was started in 1950, the civil work has increased, as has the whole activity on the site since it was established.

§ 7. Mr. Roderick
asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what was the total number of staff employed at the Aldermaston Research Station at the end of its first year of operation; and what is the total number of staff currently employed.

§ Mr. David Price
It is not customary to give this sort of information for defence establishments.

§ Mr. Roderick
Would the Minister agree that it has been difficult for us to get information of this kind in the past? What degree of parliamentary accountability does he foresee in the future when this establishment comes under the umbrella of the Ministry of Defence? Shall we find less information available than we have had in the past?

§ Mr. Price
That question is for my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Defence?

§ Mr. Benn
When can we expect to debate the legislation forecast in the statement last summer? Can we be assured that there will be very full consultation with the staff, however many there are, so as to ensure that their interests are safeguarded in this transfer, which is a matter that we regard, as the hon. Gentleman knows, as one of considerable public importance.

§ Mr. Price
I shall take the questions in reverse order. On the latter question, the answer is, "Yes". There has already been consultation, but this is not the end of consultation. On the first question, I have nothing to add to the statement made on 5th August by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State, that legislation would be introduced in the current session.