§ Dr. ThomasTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list(a) all measures taken by his Department in the last 12 months to prevent nuclear proliferation, (b) the number of personnel in his Department working to prevent nuclear proliferation and (c) his Department's total expenditure on control of nuclear proliferation in each of the last three years for which figures are available.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe Ministry of Defence, together with other Departments, has worked consistently during the last 12 months to prevent nuclear proliferation. Among measures taken, the Ministry has supported the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in its attemps to increase support for the non-proliferation treaty; participated in discussions in COCOM and other international non-proliferation groupings to prevent transfer of relevant technologies; provided a member of the commission and several inspectors for the United Nations special commission set up to oversee the elimination of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, together with support personnel and equipment for International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of Iraq's nuclear capability; agreed to provide hardware and consultancy advice to Russia to assist in former Soviet nuclear weapons reductions; and provided technical advice to the Department of Trade and Industry on export licensing.
The answers to the other parts of the question could be provided only at disproportionate cost.