UK to spend 3 bln pounds on nuclear sub work

The British government said on Wednesday it would spend 3 billion pounds ($4.88 billion) on preliminary work on a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines, a sensitive issue for the coalition government.

At the same time, Defense Secretary Liam Fox made a concession to the Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in the Conservative-dominated coalition, by launching a study of alternatives to replacing Britain's current nuclear submarines. "The nuclear deterrent provides the ultimate guarantee of our national security," Fox told parliament. (Reuters)