§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
What work is being done in Britain under Government auspices into those techniques of seismic monitoring which would allow detection and discrimination sufficient to permit the monitoring of a complete test ban; where; and at what expense.
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Armed Forces (Lord Trefgarne)The Ministry of Defence has a continuing wide-ranging programme of work on seismic monitoring relevant to the verification of a comprehensive test ban, centred mainly at Blacknest in Berkshire, an outstation of the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment, Aldermaston. Seismic recording stations are operated at various locations throughout the UK, including a master station at Eskdalemuir in Scotland. Cooperative arrangements are also undertaken with various overseas seismic groups. MoD also plays a full and active part in the work of thead hoc Group of Scientific Experts which is conducted under the auspices of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament. It is not in the national interest to provide details of the resources employed by the UK in this area.