HL Deb 24 July 1998 vol 592 cc143-4WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, as reported in the BBC Monitoring Service Summary of World Broadcasts in July 1997, Japan is helping Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan to dismantle nuclear weapons inherited by those countries from the former Soviet Union; and, if so, whether this activity is being supervised by the International Energy Authority or any other international body. [HL2775]

Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

As far as Her Majesty's Government are aware, all nuclear warheads

or in part foreign-owned; and, if they are in part foreign-owned, in which country that ownership is legally based. [HL2776]

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean)

The firms who are currently seconding staff to the FCO are registered in either England or Wales. Their exact status is shown in the table. In addition to these, the FCO has two staff seconded from Coopers & Lybrand, London, now known as Pricewaterhouse Coopers, which is a global organisation operating world-wide partnerships.

from Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan were returned to Russia by the end of 1996. All of Kazakhstan's delivery systems were destroyed by the end of 1997, and all of Belarus' delivery systems similarly removed. Only Ukraine has remaining delivery systems in place. We are not aware of any Japanese aid to Ukraine to remove these.