CONFIDENTIAL
Foreign and Commonwealth Office London SW1A 2AH
B M Norbury Esq
DS 11 MOD
Telephone 01.
т
M.
Clarke
524, 191.
®
HKG 083/1
RECEIVED IN REGISTRY NO. 51 - 9 JAN 1979
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Date 8 January 1979
Dear Brian
CTB NEGOTIATIONS:
1
•
ре
NATIONAL SEISMIC STATIONS (NSS)
Thank you for the material put together by DS 11 in difficult circumstances for Ivan Callan last week. I enclose
a draft paper for Ministers, for GEN 63 to consider on the after- noon of Wednesday 10 January.
2.
In view of the difficult timescale, the draft contains many imperfections and it has not been possible to consult others during the process of drafting. I therefore suggest that it would be helpful if you and other recipients made written comments on the draft paper by noon on Tuesday 9 January, so that the FCO can if necessary circulate a revised draft before GEN 3 meets.
3.
The Annex will require careful study by DSC 6 and the seismologists, whose contributions have been much shortened. In particular I should be grateful if MOD could offer comments on all the sites discussed in Part II of the Annex From the point of view of their feasibility for clandestine testing, as has already been done in Part I. On Pitcairn I should be glad to know whether we have correctly stated the point about the feasibility of monitoring tests at Muroroa. The Annex will also require paragraphs from MOD on the additional sites for NSS in UK, as suggested in the draft paper and the material you provided.
4.
You may wish to contribute a passage on the possibility of finding funds for HMG's financial contribution within MOD ceilings. I note from Mr Mulley's minute of 22 December to the Prime Minister that he envisaged drawing on the Contingency Reserve in favour of the MOD as one possible solution. I take it that this implies a readiness to agree that MOD would be an appropriate Department to bear the cost. Possible sources might be money you have already allocated for seismic work and savings during the life of a CTB from not conducting nuclear tests.
we
Yours
Christopher
CLG Matlaby
Arms Control and Disarmament Department
CONFIDENTIAL