• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

UK keeps secret transfer of nuclear material from US

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Feb 9, IRNA -- The British government is to keep secret the 
transfers of special nuclear materials from the US that may 
constitute a breach of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), 
Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon has revealed. 
"Such transfers are in connection with nuclear warhead assurance 
and stockpile stewardship matters," Hoon said in a written reply to 
parliament published Wednesday. 
"Precise details of such transfers are being withheld in order to 
safeguard national security," he said in response to a question from 
Scottish Nationalist Defense and Foreign Affairs spokesman Angus 
Robertson, who asked when the latest transfer took place. 
Transfers of special nuclear materials are sourced in the 
contentious 1958 Mutual Defense Agreement (MDA) between Washington 
and London on nuclear weapons cooperation that covers all aspects of 
nuclear weapons design, development and maintenance. 
According to the British-American Security Information Council 
(BASIC), the US-UK agreement is the most comprehensive by far due to 
the UK`s heavy dependence on US assistance that questions whether it 
is in breach of the NPT. 
Due to the sensitivity of the MDA, the British government forced 
through a renewal of the agreement last year without a parliamentary 
debate demanded by over 40 MPs. 
The renewal was criticized by BASIC, which warned the UK that it 
was "breaching nuclear non-proliferation obligations." It came after 
leading lawyers pointed to a "fundamental contradiction" between the 
MDA and the NPT. 
HC/2321/1432