US firms now control UK's nuclear weapons plant

London: Britain's government said Friday that a state-owned nuclear group has sold its stake in the company that manages the UK's atomic weapons research center, bringing the facility under the control of US companies.

British Nuclear Fuels PLC has sold a one-third share in Britain's AWE Management Ltd to Jacobs Engineering Group Inc, based in Pasadena, California. AWE Management has a contract to operate the government-owned Atomic Weapons Establishment, which has facilities in Aldermaston and Burghfield in southern England, through 2025.

The sale means that operations at the center, which makes and maintains warheads for Britain's nuclear missiles, is now under the control of US companies.

Lockheed Martin Corp, the largest defense contractor in the US, and Britain's Serco Group PLC also own a third each of the facility.

The state-owned British Nuclear Fuels confirmed in a statement it had sold the stake. In a separate statement, Jacobs said it would not disclose the terms of the deal.

Opposition lawmakers said the deal raised questions over the independence of Britain's nuclear deterrent. Britain has one nuclear weapons system, based on Trident submarines. The current warheads are expected to remain in service through 2020, and the government has yet to announce a replacement.

"The whole argument used for Britain having a separate weapons establishment is that this is required by the nonproliferation treaty, as technology sharing is not allowed. We must therefore query the rationale of a US company having a majority shareholding in AWE. How does this all square?" opposition Liberal Democrat lawmaker Nick Harvey said Friday.

Opposition Conservative Party lawmaker Gerald Howarth demanded that Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government explain the deal to Parliament since "the Atomic Weapons Establishment is critical to Britain's nuclear deterrent capability."

Britain's defense ministry insisted the agreement protects UK interests and said it had worked with British Nuclear Fuels and the business ministry on the deal.