§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what discussions his Department has had with its US counterparts concerning Sandia National Laboratory's refurbishment programme for the W76 nuclear package and its arming, fusing and firing mechanism; [32711]
(2) what discussions his Department has had with its counterparts in the US concerning development of the W76–1 warhead; and if he will make a statement. [32710]
§ Dr. MoonieStaff from the Defence Procurement Agency's Nuclear Weapons Team hold discussions with their US counterparts as a matter of routine. Conducted under the auspices of the 1958 Mutual Defence Agreement and the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement, as amended for Trident, the discussions cover all issues of mutual interest, including work on the US W76 warhead, relevant to the safety and reliability of the UK's Trident warhead.
§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the expected service life is for the Mk-4 re-entry vehicle for the Trident D5 missile; and if his Department has plans to extend it. [32713]
§ Mr. IngramThe service life for the UK's Re-entry Assembly (RBA) has been assessed as sufficient, with periodic refurbishment as necessary, to satisfy the needs of the Trident programme as defined in the Strategic Defence Review. As with other key military capabilities, studies into options for obtaining the optimum service life and value for money are undertaken as a matter of routine.
§ Mr. Frank CookTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost is of work conducted for the UK Trident programme in the past year by(a) Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, (b) Los Alamos National Laboratory and (c) Sandia National Laboratory. [29956]
§ Mr. IngramThe Ministry of Defence contracts with the Department of Energy (DoE) and the Department of Defense rather than direct with the US national laboratories and, as a result, the costs associated with the individual laboratories are not held by the MOD. However, the DoE has provided the following figures for expenditure on the UK Trident programme in US fiscal year 2001, which runs from 1 October 2000 to 30 September 2001:
$ £ Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory 0 0 Los Alamos National Laboratory 401,586 249,649 Sandia National Laboratory 2,343,384 1,456,785 Note:
Average rate of $1.6086/£1 used for conversion.
§ Lynne JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Trident D5A missiles his Department intends to purchase. [32712]
§ Mr. IngramNone. We have purchased 58 Trident II (D5) missiles and have no plans to purchase any more.