Britain and US conduct nuclear test

CND claims test data could be used to replace Trident

A nuclear test has been carried out in the Nevada desert in the first ever joint British and American operation.

Officials said the experiment was necessary to study the effects of ageing on plutonium and ensure the safety of existing weapons without resorting to a nuclear explosion.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) told BBC News Online that it clears the way for other countries to continue developing their own weapons.

It claimed the tests could also be used to develop a replacement for Trident, thereby breaching the Non-Proliferation treaty.

The experiment did not involve a nuclear explosion, resulting from a nuclear chain reaction, but scientists can use it to draw conclusions about materials like plutonium.

Global treaty

The US National Nuclear Security Administration said the experiment took place almost 300 metres beneath the earth's surface at 2130GMT on Thursday, at the Los Alamos test site, 85 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

This test could be used to design a replacement for existing Trident warheads

CND

It was the first to be carried out between Britain and America since the global Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

The treaty, signed by 165 countries including Britain, allows the tests to be carried out.

America has also signed the Treaty, but the Bush administration has refused to forward it to Congress for ratification and did not attend a global conference on its introduction in November 2001.

'Safety and reliability'

National Nuclear Security Administration spokeswoman Latomya Glass said the test, which involved seven British scientists, was a success.

A British defence spokesman said: "The United Kingdom is participating in a series of experiments involving special nuclear materials in the United States to help ensure the safety and reliability of our Trident nuclear warheads."

Ms Glass said Britain was participating in the test under the terms of a 1958 mutual defence agreement. "This is just the first opportunity that we've gotten to work directly with them on a sub critical experiment."

Claims questioned

CND spokesman Nigel Chamberlain said that while the experiment was not strictly in breach of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty it was contrary to its original aim of nuclear arms control and curbing proliferation.

He said: "You can't on the one hand say that one of your objectives is controlling nuclear proliferation worldwide if you continue to develop your own nuclear arsenal."

CND also questioned the claim the test was only to look at the reliability and predictability of existing weapons.

In a statement it said the data from the test could be used to modify and enhance the design of existing nuclear warheads.

It added: "We believe that this test could be used to design a replacement for existing Trident warheads, clearly a breach of the UK obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty."