DE&S Pol Sec Asst Hd3 
Defence Equipment & Support 
 
 
 
 
 
#2045 Maple 0a 
 
MOD Abbey Wood 
Bristol BS34 8JH 
[email address] 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Mr Martin Butcher 
Our Reference: 125907-003 
[FOI #9781 email]  
 
Date: 24 June 2009 
 
 
 
 
 
Dear Mr Butcher, 
 
Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000  
 
Further to my letter of 27 May 2009, in response to your Freedom of Information (FOI) 
request asking for details of the American use of hydrodynamics facilities at the Atomic 
Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston since 1992, I am writing to update you on the 
progress of your request.   
 
I am writing to advise you that qualified exemptions s24 (National Security) and s27 
(International Relations) of the FOI Act are believed to apply to the information that you 
have requested.  These exemptions are subject to the application of a balance of public 
interest test.  Under Section 10(3), of the Act, where public authorities have to apply this 
test in relation to a request, they do not have to comply with the request until such time as 
is reasonable in the circumstances.  The Ministry of Defence has not yet reached a 
decision on the balance of the public interest test in this case.  This means that as we 
have to consider, in all the circumstances of the case, where the balance of the public 
interests lies in relation to the information you have requested we will not be able to 
respond to your request in full within 20 working days.   
 
We consider it will take approximately 20 more working days to respond to your request.  I 
hope to let you have a further response by 22 July 2009.  If you do not receive this or 
further information by then please contact me and I will investigate the matter. 
 
If you are not satisfied with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the 
handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance.  If informal 
resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an 
independent internal review by contacting the Head of Corporate Information, 6th Floor, 
MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail [email address]).  Please note that 
any request for an internal review must be made within 40 working days of the date on 
which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end. 
 
If you remain dissatisfied following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the 
Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of 
Information Act.  Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate your 
 

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case until the MOD internal review process has been completed.  Further details of the 
role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner's 
website, http://www.ico.gov.uk. 
 
Yours sincerely, 
 
DES Sec-PolSec Asst Hd3 
 
For Director Secretariat and Communications 
 

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