Porton Down is a UK government and military science park. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located A science park is a property development designed for a concentration of High tech, Science, or Research related Businesses The definition It is situated slightly northeast of Porton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, England. Porton is a small village situated in Salisbury in Wiltshire, England, in the United Kingdom. Salisbury (ˈsɒlzbri ˈsɔːlzbri ('Solzbry' or ˈzɔːwzbri ('Zawzbry' — moving from RP to local dialect) is a cathedral city in the Etymology The county formerly 'Wiltonshire' or 'Wiltunscir' (9th century is named after the former county town of Wilton (itself named after the River Wylye England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland To the northwest lies the MoD Boscombe Down test range facility which is operated by QinetiQ. MoD Boscombe Down is an aircraft testing site located south of Amesbury, Wiltshire, England. QinetiQ ( (pronounced, as in Kinetic energy) is a British defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former government agency On maps, Porton Down has a "Danger Area" surrounding the entire complex. [1]
It is home to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, known as 'Dstl, Porton Down'. History In July 2001, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA was split into two parts Dstl is an Executive Agency of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), and the site is believed to be one of the United Kingdom's most sensitive and secretive government facilities for military research, including CBRN defence. The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located For the government of parliamentary systems see Executive (government. A military is an Organization authorized by its Nation to use force usually including use of Weapons in defending its Country (or by attacking Research is defined as Human activity based on Intellectual application in the investigation of Matter. CBRN is an acronym referring to Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear. The Dstl site occupies 7,000 acres (28 km²). [2]
It is also home to the Health Protection Agency's Emergency Preparedness and Response Centre as well as a small science park which includes companies such as Tetricus Bioscience [3] and Ploughshare Innovations [4]
The site is commonly confused with the UK's nearby CBRN training facility, the Defence CBRN Centre at Winterbourne Gunner. The Health Protection Agency ( HPA) originally established as a special health authority (SpHA in 2003, is an Non-Departmental Public Body charged History In July 2001, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA was split into two parts CBRN is an acronym referring to Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear. The Defence CBRN Centre is a UK government facility based at Winterbourne Gunner in Wiltshire, south of Porton Down. Winterbourne Gunner is a small Village in the UK but seems larger as it joins on to Winterbourne Dauntsey, which itself is joined on to Winterbourne
Contents |
Porton Down was set up to provide a proper scientific basis for the British use of chemical warfare, in response to the earlier German use of this means of war in 1915. Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of Chemical substances to kill injure or incapacitate an enemy. Work at Porton started in March 1916. At the time, only a few cottages and farm buildings were scattered on the Downs at Porton and Idmiston.
Porton Down originally opened in 1916 as the Royal Engineers Experimental Station as a site for testing chemical weapons. The 2 inch Vickers Medium Trench Mortar, also known as the 2-inch Howitzer, and nicknamed the "Toffee Apple" or "Plum Pudding" mortar was a British The laboratory's remit was to conduct research and development regarding chemical weapons agents such as chlorine, phosgene and mustard gas by the British armed forces in the First World War. A laboratory (informally lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific Research, Experiments and Chlorine (ˈklɔriːn from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' ( khlôros, meaning 'pale green' is the Chemical element with Atomic number 17 and Phosgene is the Chemical compound with the formula COCl2 This colorless gas gained infamy as a Chemical weapon during World War I The sulfur mustards, of which mustard gas ( Bis (2-chloroethyl sulfide is a member are a class of related Cytotoxic, Vesicant Chemical World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All
By 1918 the original two huts had become a large hutted camp with 50 officers and 1,100 other ranks. Studies in the Great War mainly concerned the dissemination of chlorine and phosgene and, later, mustard gas. By May 1917 the focus for anti-gas defence and respirator development had moved from London to Porton Down.
After the Armistice, staff at Porton Down were reduced to a skeleton level. An armistice is a situation where the warring parties agree to stop fighting
In 1919 the War Office set up the Holland Committee to consider the future of chemical warfare and defence. By 1920, the Cabinet agreed to the Committee’s recommendation that work should continue at Porton Down and from that date a slow permanent building programme began coupled with the gradual recruitment of civilian scientists. By 1922, there were 380 servicemen, 23 scientific and technical civil servants and 25 “civilian subordinates”. By 1925 the civilian staff had doubled.
By 1926 the chemical defence aspects of Air Raid Precautions (ARP) for the civilian population was added to the Station’s responsibilities. By 1938, the international situation was such that offensive chemical warfare research and development and the production of war reserve stocks of chemical warfare agents by the chemical industry was authorised by the Cabinet. Britain had ratified the 1925 Geneva Protocol in 1930 with reservations which permitted the use of chemical warfare agents only in retaliation.
The Common Cold Unit (CCU) was sometimes confused with the Microbiological Research Establishment at Porton Down, with which it occasionally collaborated but was not officially connected. In Britain the Common Cold Unit (CCU also known as the Common Cold Research Unit (CCRU was set up by the civilian Medical Research Council (MRC in 1946 on the The CCU was located at Harvard Hospital, Harnham Down, on the west side of Salisbury. Salisbury (ˈsɒlzbri ˈsɔːlzbri ('Solzbry' or ˈzɔːwzbri ('Zawzbry' — moving from RP to local dialect) is a cathedral city in the
Chemical warfare was not used by any nation during the Second World War but as Allied armies penetrated Germany, operational stockpiles of munitions and weapons were discovered which contained new chemical warfare agents; the highly toxic organophosphorous nerve agents, unknown to Britain and the Allies.
During the Second World War, research concentrated on chemical weapons such as nitrogen mustard, plus biological weapons including Anthrax and Botulinum toxin. Anthrax is an acute Disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms Botulinum toxin is a Neurotoxin Protein produced by the Bacterium Clostridium botulinum. In 1942, highly successful tests of an anthrax bio-weapon developed at Porton Down were held at Gruinard Island. Gruinard Island ('Eilean Ghruinneard' is a small oval-shaped Scottish island approximately 2 kilometres long by 1 km wide located in Gruinard Bay, about
When WW2 ended, the advanced state of German technology regarding nerve agents such as Tabun, Sarin and Soman surprised the allies and they were eager to capitalise on it. Sarin, also known by its NATO designation of GB, is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a Nerve agent. Alternative names Soman is occasionally referred to by names other than soman or GD: Phosphonofluoridic acid methyl- 1 2 2-trimethylpropyl ester Subsequent research took the newly discovered German nerve agents as a starting point, and eventually VX nerve agent was developed at Porton Down in 1952. Nerve agents (also being referred to as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature are a class of Phosphorus -containing organic chemicals VX (S--O-ethyl methylphosphonothioate is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a Nerve agent.
The late 1940s and early 1950s saw research and development at Porton Down aimed at providing Britain with the means to arm itself with a modern nerve agent based capability and to develop specific means of defence against these agents. In the end these aims came to nothing on the offensive side because of the decision to abandon any sort of British chemical warfare capability. On the defensive side there were years of difficult work to develop the means of prophylaxis, therapy, rapid detection and identification, decontamination and more effective protection of the body against nerve agents, capable of exerting effects through the skin, the eyes and respiratory tract.
Tests were carried out on servicemen to determine the effects of nerve agents on human subjects, with one recorded death due to a nerve gas experiment. There have been persistent allegations of unethical human experimentation at Porton Down, such as those relating to the death of Leading Aircraftman Ronald Maddison, aged 20, in 1953. Human subject research (HSR or human subject use (HSU involves the use of human beings as research subjects Leading Aircraftman Ronald George Maddison (c1933- 6 May 1953) was a twenty-year-old Royal Air Force engineer who died whilst acting as Maddison was taking part in sarin nerve agent toxicity tests. Sarin, also known by its NATO designation of GB, is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a Nerve agent. Sarin was dripped on to his arm and he died shortly afterwards as a result.
In the 1950s the Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment became involved with the development of CS, a riot control agent, and took an increasing role in trauma and wound ballistics work. CS gas is the common name for 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile (also called o-Chlorobenzylidene Malononitrile (chemical formula C10H5ClN2 Both these facets of Porton Down’s work had become more important because of the situation in Northern Ireland.
In 1970 the Chemical Defence Establishment became the title of the senior establishment at Porton Down and remained for the next 21 years. Preoccupation with defence against the nerve agents continued but in the 1970s and 1980s the Establishment was also concerned with studying reported chemical warfare by Iraq against Iran and against its own Kurdish population.
Until 2001 the military installation of Porton Down was part of the UK government's Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. The Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (normally known as DERA) was a part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD until July 2, 2001. DERA was spilt into QinetiQ, initially a fully government owned company, and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl). QinetiQ ( (pronounced, as in Kinetic energy) is a British defence technology company, formed from the greater part of the former government agency History In July 2001, the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA was split into two parts Dstl incorporates all of DERA's activities deemed unsuitable for the privatisation planned for QinetiQ, particularly Porton Down.
Following the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1990, the problems increased, culminating in active operational support of British Forces in the Gulf region. After the Gulf ceasefire the establishment continued to provide technical support for the United Nations Special Commission set-up to oversee the destruction of the Iraqi capability to use nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. This continued until 1999 when Iraq withdrew co-operation from the Commission.
The military facility has used human test subjects in the testing of Sarin of which a case settlement has been made [5] and the use, again on test subjects, of Nerve Gas. Sarin, also known by its NATO designation of GB, is an extremely toxic substance whose sole application is as a Nerve agent. Nerve agents (also being referred to as nerve gases, though these chemicals are liquid at room temperature are a class of Phosphorus -containing organic chemicals [6]
Most of the work carried out at Porton Down has to date remained secret, and the UK Government have been criticised for not revealing the true extent of the research that was carried out on servicemen. It is known that amongst current research at Porton is the study of MRSA and Anthrax. Anthrax is an acute Disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms The facility produces a high efficacy anthrax vaccine which is sold throughout the world. However, certain elements of the government have admitted that they are not fully aware of everything that goes on at Porton Down.
Bruce George, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Commons Defence Committee (defence select committee ), told BBC News on August 20, 1999 that:
"I would not say that the Defence Committee is micro-managing either DERA or Porton Down. Bruce Thomas George (born 1 June 1942 British Politician He is the Labour Member of Parliament for Walsall South. A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a Parliament. The Ministry of Defence ( MoD) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters See also Committee A Select Committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues Events 636 - Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine Year 1999 ( MCMXCIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full 1999 Gregorian calendar) We visit it, but, with 11 members of Parliament and 5 staff covering a labyrinthine department like the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces, it would be quite erroneous of me and misleading for me to say that we know everything that’s going on in Porton Down. A) It’s too big for us to know, and secondly, there are many things happening there that I’m not even certain Ministers are fully aware of, let alone Parliamentarians. " [8]
Sir Thomas Dalyell was outspoken in Parliament and true to his own views. Sir Thomas Dalyell of the Binns 11th Baronet (born 9 August 1932) known as Tam Dalyell (diːˈɛl is a Scottish Politician His stance ensured his isolation from significant committees and jobs. His early career was promising and he became Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Richard Crossman. A Parliamentary Private Secretary ( PPS) is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament (MP by a senior minister in government or shadow Richard Howard Stafford Crossman, known as Dick Crossman, ( 15 December 1907 &ndash 5 April 1974 was a British Labour Party But he annoyed a number of ministers and was heavily censured by the privileges committee for a leak about the biological weapons research establishment Porton Down to the newspapers (though he claimed that he thought the minutes were in the public domain). The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
Dstl Porton Down has also been involved in human-testing.
A second inquest on Ronald Maddison commenced in May 2004, after many years of lobbying by his relatives and their supporters. It later found the death of Ronald Maddison to have been unlawful [9]; however this has since been challenged by the Ministry of Defence. [10]
In February 2006 three ex-servicemen were awarded compensation in an out of court settlement after claims they were given LSD without their consent during the 1950s. [11]
Dstl Porton Down is also involved in animal-testing, where the "three Rs" of Reduce (the number of animals used), Refine (animal procedures) and Replace (animal tests with non-animal tests) are used as the basic code of practice. Nevertheless, there has been a significant increase in animal experimentation in recent years.
In 2003 it was speculated that Cambridge University will move its primate laboratory to Porton Down. The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University) located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the [12]
During 2005, 21,118 procedures were undertaken which involved the use of animals [13], nearly double the number undertaken in 1997 [14]. In 2005, approximately 95% of the animals used (20,016) were mice. A mouse (plural mice) is a small Animal that belongs to one Other animals used included guinea pigs, rats, pigs, ferrets, sheep, and non-human primates (believed to be marmosets, rhesus monkeys and macaques). The Guinea pig (also commonly called the cavy after its scientific name Cavia porcellus) is a species of Rodent belonging to the family Caviidae Rats are various medium sized long-tailed Rodents of the superfamily Muroidea Pigs, also called hogs or' swine', are Ungulates which have been domesticated as sources of food leather and similar products since ancient times The ferret is a domestic Mammal of the type Mustela putorius furo. A primate is a member of the biological order Primates ( Latin: "prime first rank" the group that contains Lemurs the Aye-aye The figures released in 2005 also reveal that one cow was used in a secret experiment in 2004 [15].
Different departments at Porton Down use animal experiments in different ways. Dstl’s Biomedical Sciences department is involved with drug evaluation and efficacy testing (toxicology, pharmacology, physiology, behavioural science, human science), trauma and surgery studies, and animal breeding. The Physical Sciences department also uses animals in its ‘Armour Physics’ research.
Like other aspects of research at Porton Down, precise details of animal experiments are generally kept secret. However, media reports have suggested they include exposing monkeys to anthrax, draining the blood of pigs and injecting them with E. coli bacteria, and exposing animals to a variety of lethal, toxic nerve agents [1]. Anthrax is an acute Disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis which is highly lethal in some forms Different animals are used for very different purposes. According to a 2002 report from the Animal Welfare Advisory Committee of the Ministry of Defence, mice are used mainly to research "the development of vaccines and treatments for microbial and viral infections", while pigs are used to "develop personal protective equipment to protect against blast injury to the thorax" [2].