§ Phil SawfordTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the circumstances of each of the accidents involving UK nuclear weapons referred to in the answer given by the then Minister for the Armed Forces, the hon. Member for Mid-Sussex (Mr. Soames) on 16 July 1996,Official Report, columns 484–85W. [5030]
§ Mr. HoonWe have a good record on the safety and security of our nuclear weapons and continue to place the highest importance on work in this area. I have today placed in the Library of both Houses a table which sets 141W out the circumstances of each of the seven accidents concerned. The information it contains is drawn from records spanning a period of 40 years and confirms that:
There has never been a weapons accident resulting in the release of radioactive material;there has never been damage to a weapon which risked a radioactive leak or an explosion;there has never been a nuclear weapon lost.In addition to the three road traffic accidents referred to in the table, our research has identified one other, similar, event which took place in 1960 in Lincolnshire. There is no damage to the weapon involved. Since this event pre-dates current reporting system it is unclear whether, in today's terms, it would be categorised as an accident.
The Government remain committed to greater openness on nuclear issues wherever possible. A key responsibility, however, must be to protect the safety and operational security of our nuclear forces and the people who support them. The practice of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons at any particular place and at any particular time will therefore continue to be a cornerstone of the Government's policy on nuclear weapons issues.