BRITISH HOLD NUCLEAR REPLY

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30366, 15 February 1964, Page 13

BRITISH HOLD NUCLEAR REPLY

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, February 14. Missile material already available or assured will be sufficient to maintain Britain’s independent nuclear deterrent and to meet all her defence requirements for the foreseeable future, says the Government’s annual defence report tabled in the House of Commons.

“This takes account of the fact that material already embodied in weapons can be returned and used again. Consequently, produetion of Uranium 235 for military purposes at Capenhurst ceased in 1963, and the output of the plant has been reduced to the minimum level to keep it in production. "Military plutonium production is gradually being brought to an end. If at any time further supplies of fissile material are required for defence purposes, it will be possible to resume or increase production. There is therefore no question of these changes in any way affecting the ability to maintain the independent British deterrent,” states the report. Peak Budget Britain, whose defence forces are now stretched to nearly all parts of the world, will in the year 1964-65 have to meet a defence budget of almost £ 2000m —the highest ever. On the independent British deterrent—which the Opposition Labour Party wants to give up over a period of time —the report said: “Even a small number of Polaris submarines would possess immense destructive capacity. To suggest that the independent deterrent might be abandoned in the interests of non-dissemination overlooks the fact that if there were no power in Europe capable of inflicting unacceptable camage on a potential enemy he might be tempted—if not now then perhaps at some time in the future—to attack in the mistaken belief that the United States would not act unless America herself were attacked. “The V-bombers by themselves are, and the Polaris submarines will be, capable of inflicting greater damage

than any potential aggressor would consider acceptable. For this reason, the British nuclear forces make a unique contribution to the main deterrent.”