UK MOD Prevents Nuclear Documents Release: Asbestos Contamination Blamed

In the past, the UK Ministry of Defence have provided many reasons why they cannot let the public examine previously sensitive government documents. There was the fire at an MOD builiding which was supposed to have destroyed a lot of UK UFO files covering the 1950s-1960s. (These files later turned up after the end of the Cold War). There was the time that documents were lost when MOD buildings in Northumberland Avenue flooded.
Now the MOD have a new excuse....... Asbestos.

www.guardian.co.uk...

MoD papers sealed in asbestos scare

Richard Norton-Taylor
Tuesday July 27, 2004
The Guardian

Thousands of precious Ministry of Defence documents, described as the "crown jewels" of contemporary history, have been placed in plastic sacks closed indefinitely to the outside world.
To the alarm of historians and researchers, the ministry has discovered that the archives containing all of its most highly sensitive files are contaminated by asbestos.

The files were kept in the basement of the Old War Office building in Whitehall.

They include important documents relating to British nuclear policy and defence intelligence assessments throughout the cold war.

Some of the papers had already been selected to be released at the National Archives in Kew, south London. Historians are worried that the MoD will use the asbestos scare as an excuse to delay the release of the files. Some researchers are concerned that documents will be lost for ever.

One historian described the files as "politically hugely important". He called them the "absolute crown jewels", including papers which would shed light on the way British nuclear weapons were controlled.


zero lift