The security, development and governance of Afghanistan remains crucial to reducing the terrorist threat to the UK, the Defence Secretary reaffirmed in his first visit to Afghanistan.

Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

A secure Afghanistan will help keep the streets of Britain safe. Building the security services that will be the foundation of stability and peace in Afghanistan remains top of our agenda and I have seen first-hand the crucial role our brave Armed Forces are playing in realising that vision.

In his meeting with Minister of Defence Bahrami, the Defence Secretary reaffirmed the UK commitment to Afghanistan, citing the continued funding for the Afghanistan National Security Forces, our support for the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA) and the recent uplift of UK troops to around 650.

Mr Williamson also met with UK personnel who are based at ANAOA in Qargha, on the western outskirts of Kabul. They are helping to train the next generation of Afghanistan’s military leaders through mentoring training staff and instilling the Sandhurst ethos at the academy.

More than 3,000 officers have passed out of the academy since 2013, and, this year, ANAOA has nearly as many female cadets in training as have graduated in total since the academy opened.

The Defence Secretary also met UK troops who lead the Kabul Security Force (KSF), which provides force protection for NATO staff in Kabul. In last five weeks alone, the KSF have undertaken over 2,800 protection journeys and Mr Williamson experienced first-hand the vital role they play, travelling with UK personnel in a Foxhound armoured vehicle.

He also commended their efforts in responding to some of the recent terrorist attacks in Kabul, in which the KSF supported Afghan Security Forces by evacuating guests to safety extracted of guests following the Intercontinental Hotel terrorist attack and provided first aid to Afghan soldiers following an attack on an Afghan Army compound in January.

The UK has played an important role in supporting Afghanistan over the last 16 years and is committed to continuing this in the future. Through the NATO Resolute Support Mission, the support the UK provides on issues such as security, development and governance is crucial to building a stable state and reducing the terrorist threat to the UK.

• UK signs agreement to work with other countries to create new medical treatments using a powerful laser
• super-strength laser acts like a microscope to help understand deadly viruses
• the UK joins existing member countries including, France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland

The UK will be at the forefront of the fight against life-threatening diseases after confirming that it has signed the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser (XFEL) convention in Berlin, Germany today (19 March). The XFEL programme uses a super-strength laser to help understand life-threatening viruses.

The UK’s membership of XFEL reinforces the government’s modern Industrial Strategy, and through the Ageing Society Grand Challenge, the government is committed to harnessing the power of innovation to create the treatments of the future and maintain our position of being a world-leader in science, research and innovation.

The XFEL, one of the most powerful X-ray machines ever built, acts like a huge microscope, using intensely bright and short duration X-ray flashes which will enable scientists to map the atomic details of viruses. The laser also allows scientists to look in greater detail to the composition of cells, take 3D images of atoms and molecules and study processes such as those occurring deep inside planets.

Science Minister Sam Gyimah said:

The incredible XFEL will help us better understand life threatening diseases by using one of the world’s most powerful X-ray machines. Working with our international partners, the super-strength laser will help develop new medical treatments and therapies, potentially saving thousands of lives across the world.

Through our modern Industrial Strategy we are investing an extra £4.7 billion into research and development. I am determined that we continue to secure our position as being a world-leader in science, research and innovation and I can’t wait to see the results that come from our participation in this extraordinary project.

STFC designed and built LPD detector. Credit: European XFEL

British engineers from the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) have already built the advanced camera for XFEL, called the Large Pixel Detector (LPD). The camera operates at a frame rate of 4.5MHz – 4.5 million pictures per second.

The UK has been involved with XFEL since 2008, contributing £30 million towards the construction of the facility, and every following year we will contribute £2.5 million towards operations costs.

STFC have also contributed a number of UK researchers who are currently working at the facility. The UK has also developed a training facility at the Diamond Light Source on the Harwell campus in Oxfordshire for British scientists. The UK XFEL life sciences hub will enable users to fully prepare for their experiments with XFELs.

The Princess Royal toured the NDA’s £21 million facility in Wick accompanied by Chief Executive Officer David Peattie, who said:

We are extremely honoured to have received a visit from The Princess Royal to open Nucleus. It has been fantastic to see this important project come to fruition as a resource to preserve records from the country’s nuclear industry, as well as historical material from the Caithness region.

Her Royal Highness was greeted on arrival by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Caithness, Viscount Thurso. Also among the invited guests were the Lord Lieutenant’s wife Lady Thurso, former Lord Lieutenant Miss Anne Dunnett, MP Jamie Stone, MSP Gail Ross, representatives from Dounreay Stakeholder Group and local councillors.

During the tour, The Princess Royal met key staff from the archive’s operations team, who described how the documents were prepared, indexed, stored in a series of secure pods, with humidity and temperature kept stable to minimise the potential for deterioration. Mr Peattie addressed assembled guests and staff before inviting Her Royal Highness to unveil the plaque.

Nucleus has a dual role: as well as records from the country’s nuclear sites, Nucleus houses a collection of local Caithness records that have outgrown their existing home.

Since opening last February, an exercise has been under way to transfer plans, photographs, drawings and other records from diverse nuclear locations. The first collection to arrive came from nearby Dounreay and is being followed by Harwell records.

The painstaking ‘sift and lift’ process, expected to last at least 5 years, requires millions more documents to be examined before being either destroyed or carefully indexed and packaged for the move north.

Sellafield Ltd alone has more than 130,000 boxes of archived records in off-site storage, plus material on site and in various offices – estimated as stretching, if laid out, to more than 120km worth of paperwork. The 12 Magnox Ltd sites have a similar-sized collection in storage. The number of electronic records across the estate is believed to number hundreds of millions.

Eventually, decades-worth of records, both digital and hard copy, will be housed at Nucleus where they will be available for ongoing research. The facility will also fulfil an important role for a future geological disposal facility (GDF) that is being developed for the UK, acting as a central repository for detailed waste records that will be safeguarded for many generations.

Earlier this year, Nucleus was granted Place of Deposit status by The National Archive at Kew, following a rigorous assessment of all operational aspects. It is one of the largest accredited repositories outside London.
The building’s sleek, angular lines have also collected two prestigious design awards from the Architects’ Journal including Public Building of the Year 2017.

Further background on the nuclear archive facility