Key documents

In this section you will find particularly significant material relating to the Trident replacement decision, which are referred to frequently in debates, articles and documents.

CRS Report for Congress - The Reliable Replacement Warhead Program: Background and Current Developments

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Date: 
12 September, 2008
Source: 
http://www.state.gov/

Summary
Most current U.S. nuclear warheads were built in the 1970s and 1980s and are being retained longer than was planned. Yet they deteriorate and must be maintained. To correct problems, a Life Extension Program (LEP), part of a larger Stockpile Stewardship Program (SSP), replaces components. Modifying some components would require a nuclear test, but the United States has observed a test moratorium since 1992. Congress and the Administration prefer to avoid a return to testing, so LEP rebuilds these components as closely as possible to original specifications. With this approach, the Secretaries of Defense and Energy have certified stockpile safety and reliability for the past 12 years without nuclear testing.

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AWE - Site Development Context Plan update, (SDCP08)

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Date: 
1 April, 2008
Source: 
http://www.awe.co.uk

AWE Aldermaston and Burghfield
Site Development Context Plan (SDCP)
2005 - 2015
Update (SDCP08)

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HM Treasury - 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review: D8 Ministry of Defence, Cm 7227

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Date: 
9 October, 2007

2007 Pre-Budget Report and Comprehensive Spending Review, Cm 7227
'Meeting the aspirations of the British people'

9 October 2007.

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Defence White Paper 2006 - FCO and MoD: The Future of the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent, Cm 6994

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date: 
4 December, 2006

The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent
At the 2005 General Election the Labour manifesto made a commitment to retain the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent. Even with an extension to their lives, the Vanguard class submarines are likely to start leaving service from the early 2020s. We estimate that it will take around 17 years to design, manufacture and commission
a replacement submarine. So we need to take decisions now on whether to retain this capability in the longer term.

Fact Sheet 1: Summary: Maintaining the UK's Nuclear Deterrent

Fact Sheet 2: Summary: Disarmament and Non-proliferation

Fact Sheet 3: International Legal Obligations

Fact Sheet 4: The Current System

Fact Sheet 5: The History of the UK's Nuclear Weapons Programme

Fact Sheet 6: Supporting the Trident System

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Commons Hansard- Prime Minister: Column 21

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date: 
4 December, 2006

Prime Minister's House of Commons Statement on the Defence White Paper: The Future of the United Kindom's Nuclear Deterrent

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Parliament - Research Paper, November 2006

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date: 
3 November, 2006

House Of Commons Library Research Paper 06/53
The Future of the British Nuclear Deterrent

The UK's strategic nuclear deterrent will reach the end of its service life in approximately 2024.

In summer 2006 the Government announced that a White Paper on the future of the British nuclear deterrent would be published before the end of the year and that the issue would be debated and put to a vote in Parliament.

This paper sets out a number of issues that may inform that debate, including assessments of the future security environment; the UK's international treaty obligations; the potential cost of procuring a successor system; and the implications of dispensing with the deterrent. It also examines public opinion and the options available to the Government.

http://www.parliament.uk/commons/lib/research/rp2006/rp06-053.pdf

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MoD - Defence Industrial Strategy: Defence White Paper, Cm6697

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date: 
15 December, 2005
source: 
http://www.mod.uk

'The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) is structured in three parts:
Part A, providing the strategic context;
Part B, reviewing different industrial sectors and cross-cutting industrial capabilities;
and Part C, outlining the implications for MOD and industry as a whole, and how the DIS will be implemented.'

[from Executive Summary, p 6]

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Defence Industrial Strategy: Defence White Paper, Cm6697

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Date: 
1 December, 2005
Source: 
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk

'The Defence Industrial Strategy (DIS) is structured in three parts: PartA, providing the strategic context; Part B, reviewing diff erent industrial sectorsand cross-cutting industrial capa

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AWE - Site Development Context Plan 2005

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Date: 
1 November, 2005
Source: 
AWE plc

This document was created to provide AWE plc with the overall context within which the development of Aldermaston and Burghfield will be set and to 'allow key stakeholders to have an overall picture of the future development as the necessary documentation is prepared and submitted for projects to achieve necessary consents and in particular planning approval'
[Strategic Sustainability Appraisal of the Site Development Contect Plan, Introduction]

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MoD - Defence White Paper: Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities, Cm 6269

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Date: 
1 July, 2004
Source: 
http://www.mod.uk


  • Delivering Security in a Changing World: Future Capabilities

  • Factsheet 1: The Policy Baseline - Why We Need To Change

  • Factsheet 2: Capability Implications

  • Factsheet 3: Organisation and Efficiency

  • Factsheet 4: Network Enabled Capability

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