The U.K. is to replace its stockpile of nuclear warheads at an estimated cost of more than GBP3 billion, The Guardian reports Friday, citing previously unpublished papers released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Opponents say any such decision would breach the nuclear nonproliferation treaty.
The released papers reveal that one of the Ministry of Defense's senior officials told a private gathering of arms manufacturers that the decision had already been taken despite ministers repeatedly saying that a decision won't be made until the next parliament probably after 2010.
A spokesman for the MoD told the newspaper the document was a "speaking note" rather than a transcript of the official's speech, which was delivered in June last year, and added that it did not reflect government policy.