Written question asked by Jeremy Corbyn (Labour) on Wednesday, 27 October 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 November 2010. It was answered by Liam Fox (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 November 2010 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Nuclear Weapons: Finance

Question: (2) what estimate he has made of his Department's expenditure on the Nuclear Warhead Capability Sustainment Programme in each year from 2011-12 to 2014-15;

Answer: Future planned expenditure on the nuclear deterrent will be subject to cost savings measures identified in the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). This includes expenditure on the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and the Future Submarine Programme. Release of further detail may prejudice the Ministry of Defence's (MOD) negotiating position with its commercial suppliers, and final savings figures will depend on detailed SDSR-related implementation. The MOD is, therefore, not prepared to release this financial information at this time.We expect, however, that the in-service costs of the UK's nuclear deterrent, which includes AWE's costs, will remain similar to those of the 2006 White Paper.The AWE costs associated with the Mk4A modification form part of the Nuclear Warhead Capability Sustainment Programme, which cannot be distinguished from the AWE management and operation costs.

Secondary information