§ Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of Japan's capability for building nuclear weapons. [49265]
§ Mr. BradshawJapan is a designated member of the IAEA Board of Governors and is thus recognised as being one of the nations most advanced in civil nuclear technology and applications. Japan is a member of the treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as a non-nuclear weapon state, and it is thus treaty-bound. not to pursue nuclear weapons programmes. Japan's constitution prohibits the development and use of nuclear weapons. It is active in the fields of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.