Mr O'NeillTo ask the Secretay of State for Defence what assessment he has made of procedures for monitoring and verifying a complete nuclear test ban treaty.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Putney (Mr. Mellor) on 27 June 1988,Official Report, Vol. 136, column 61, and to the working paper on seismic monitoring tabled in the conference on disarmament in 1985 (CD 610), a copy of which is held in the Library. Scientists at the MOD's research establishment at Blacknest near Aldermaston continue to undertake seismological research which might support a verification regime for further constraints on nuclear testing.