§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the RAF human centrifuge project is running on time and budget; and [HL4342]
Whether in the event of the failure of the ETC Corporation to deliver the RAF human centrifuge as originally specified it is intended that the contract to supply will fall to another company. [HL4343]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence (Lord Bach)The RAF human centrifuge project is expected to deliver a new centrifuge facility in 2005. This is later than expected because the original contractor for the programme, Environmental Tectonics Corporation, failed to deliver and its contract was terminated. Following a further competition, we expect to place a new contract in 2003. We anticipate that the costs for the new project will be in line with the original cost estimates for the programme.