§ Mr. Derek TwiggTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what progress has been made with the two studies concerning defence fissile material production and a national capability for arms control verification referred to in Supporting Essay Five of the Strategic Defence Review; and if he will make a statement. [119575]
§ Mr. HoonThe decision to produce by this spring an initial report of defence fissile material production since the commencement of the UK's nuclear programme in the 1940s was both ambitious and challenging. There remains much work to be done. However, I am pleased to announce that our reports on the production of plutonium for the Defence programme and arms control verification have now been completed within the timescale set out in the Strategic Defence Review. Copies of the reports, and their associated summary capping papers, will be placed in the Library of the House and published on the MOD website. I also intend to have the summary capping papers circulated at the forthcoming Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York, and at the Conference of Disarmament in Geneva, as a contribution to wider consideration of these complex issues. Their publication demonstrates our continuing 293W determination to work constructively towards our goal of the global elimination of nuclear weapons, and our commitment to openness in government.