Mr. Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate his Department has made of the implications the Congressional House resolution 12, on mutual warhead testing moratorium, of 6 January, will have on the continued United Kingdom nuclear warhead testing programme in Nevada.
§ Mr. MellorHouse resolution 12 does not reflect the policy of the United States Administration, which conducts nuclear tests in accordance with the 150 Kt limit of the unratified threshold test ban treaty. Although not a signatory to the treaty, the United Kingdom conducts its nuclear tests in accordance with this limit.
We note that House resolution 12 makes "in-country reciprocal monitoring arrangements" a condition for prohibiting tests above 1 Kt. We also note that the Russians have not yet accepted United States proposals for measures of this type with respect to the 150 Kt threshold treaty.