§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether tests on the United Kingdom warheads for the Trident missile system will be carried out at any test site other than Nevada.
§ Mr. Norman LamontFor more than 20 years United Kingdom nuclear warheads have been tested at the Nevada test site. We have no plans to conduct nuclear tests at any other site.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost for designing, testing and fabrication of the British-built warheads for Trident.
§ Mr. Norman LamontI refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Bosworth (Mr. Butler), on 24 May at column600.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the proportion of the total cost of construction of the Trident submarine which is taken up by the cost of design.
§ Mr. Norman LamontUnder 10 per cent. of the estimated cost of the Trident submarine, excluding the weapons systems, will represent the cost of design and design-related activities such as prototype testing.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the mega-wattage-thermal (MWCE) of the prototype reactor being built for the Trident submarine.
98W
§ Mr. Norman LamontThis information is classified.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many people are working on the design and testing of the British warhead for Trident.
§ Mr. Norman LamontFor reasons of security it is not our policy to reveal details of staff engaged on the defence nuclear programme.
§ Mr. Ashdownasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether the United Kingdom is building its Trident submarines to a design furnished by a United States firm; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Norman LamontNo. Overall responsibility for the design of our Trident submarines rests with the United Kingdom, where the great majority of the design work is being undertaken. But, as I told the hon. Member in a recent letter, it makes sense for us to adopt the same basic design as the United States for the central section of the submarine which houses the Trident D5 strategic weapon system. A contract has therefore been let to the electric boat division of General Dynamics in the United States to provide the necessary design information in this area.