Exclusive: UK to step up collaboration with US over nuclear warheads

Britain is stepping up its cooperation with the US over the design of nuclear warheads, raising new questions about the independence of the UK deterrent, according to documents disclosed after a freedom of information request.

Increased cooperation on warhead design and the exchange of material crucial in the manufacture and stockpiling of nuclear weapons will be sealed in a pact being drawn up by senior officials from the two countries.

The pact, renewing the 1958 mutual defence agreement (MDA) between the UK and US, is expected to be signed in a discreet ceremony in Washington in the next few weeks. It does not have to be debated or voted on in parliament. Though the agreement is incorporated in US law, it has no legal status in Britain.

A document prepared for a visit by a senior American nuclear official to the Aldermaston atomic weapons establishment (AWE) refers to "enhanced collaboration" on "nuclear explosive package design and certification", on "maintenance of existing stockpiles", and the "possible development of safer, more secure, warheads".

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/12/uk-us-mutual-defence-agreement-exclusive