Nuclear Weapons (Hansard, 19 October 1993)

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on issues discussed and matters decided at the annual conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, in regard to nuclear safeguards and proliferation; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the United Kingdom documents submitted to the meeting.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency had a wide-ranging agenda covering all its activities. The Conference passed resolutions on a number of matters relating to safeguards and non-proliferation including the implementation of the safeguards agreement between the agency and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and the implementation of United Nations Security Council resolutions 687, 707 and 715 relating to Iraq. A copy of the statement delivered to the plenary by the United Kingdom representative has been deposited in the Library of the House.

§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government have made to the proposals put forward by President Clinton on 27 September concerning the halting by the acknowledged nuclear weapons states of further production and stockpiling of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for military purposes.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
A preliminary meeting has been held at official level with the United States at which they set out their proposal. We shall naturally wish to consider very carefully the implications for our nuclear deterrent of the proposal for a cut-off convention. But we recognise the potentially valuable contribution which a multilateral convention prohibiting the production of plutonium and highly enriched uranium for explosive purposes could make to non-proliferation, and we will want to explore these potential benefits fully and positively in our approach to the issue. We are hopeful of being able to work towards a multilateral agreement of the kind proposed by the United States.
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§ Mr. Llew Smith
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what response Her Majesty's Government have made to the conduct by China of a nuclear test on 5 October.

§ Mr. Heathcoat-Amory
The Chinese nuclear test on October 5 confirms our belief that the most effective way of restraining nuclear testing is through negotiated and verifiable agreement. We have made clear we do not believe the Chinese test necessarily clouds the prospect for a successful conclusion to comprehensive test ban negotiations, in which we shall seek to play a full and constructive part.