asked the Secretary of State for Defence why it would not be in the national interest to disclose details of research and development effort devoted to verification of a comprehensive test ban treaty; and what advantage could be gained by other countries if this information was published.

The United Kingdom has published information about verification techniques in relation to a comprehensive test ban in the context of this issue at the Geneva conference on disarmament. Full details of the United Kingdom research and development effort devoted to this subject, however, might provide information about certain aspects of United Kingdom capabilities in this area which we would not wish to reveal, as well as assisting evasion techniques of others.