§ Mr. Alan SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will list the projects on which his Department is working jointly with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory; [21825]
(2) if he will list the joint working groups currently in operation as part of (a) the 1958 mutual defence agreement for co-operation on the uses of atomic energy for defence purposes, (b) the Polaris sales agreement and (c) the Trident sales agreement; [21822]
(3) if he will list the projects on which his Department is working jointly with Sandia National Laboratory; [21826]
(4) if he will list the research projects on which his Department is working jointly with Los Alamos National Laboratories. [21824]
§ Mr. SpellarThe Joint Working Groups established under the terms of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement exchange technical information on the following subjects:
- Radiation Simulation and Kinetic Effects Technology
- Energetic Materials
- Test Monitoring
- Nuclear Materials
140 - Warhead Electrical Components and Technologies
- Non-Nuclear Materials
- Nuclear Counter-Terrorism Technology Facilities
- Nuclear Weapons Engineering
- Nuclear Warhead Physics
- Computational Technology
- Aircraft, Missile and Space System Hardening
- Laboratory Plasma Physics
- Manufacturing Practices
- Nuclear Weapon Accident Response Technology
- Nuclear Weapon Code Development
- Nuclear Weapon Environment and Damage Effects
With the exception of support to the UK Trident Project which is effected under the terms of the Polaris Sales Agreement, as amended for Trident, there is no joint work under way on new weapons systems. There are however regular exchanges on a wide range of research and technology areas as specified above. They involve all three US National Laboratories, namely Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratory and Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Separate arrangements are in place for exchanges under the Polaris Sales Agreement, as amended for Trident. The groups concerned are the Joint Steering Task Group, supported by the Trident Joint Re-Entry Systems Working Group and the Joint Systems Performance and Assessment Group.