§ 14. Mr. Warbeyasked the Minister of Fuel and Power what revisions in the first ten-year programme of nuclear power will be brought about by the incorporation in the programme of the six additional atomic reactors announced last June.
§ Mr. Joynson-HicksNone, Sir. As my right hon. Friend told the House on 13th June last, these reactors do not form part of the civil programme proposed in the White Paper, but are additional to it.
§ Mr. WarbeyWhy are we having conflicting replies on this subject? I was informed by the Minister of Works the other day that these reactors would supply about 200,000 kilowatts of electrical capacity by 1959 or 1960. As it is apparently possible to speed up the atomic energy programme quite substantially at short notice to meet pressure from the military authorities to meet their needs, why cannot a similar intensification be applied on the civilian side?
§ Mr. Joynson-HicksI think the hon. Gentleman is a little confused. These reactors to which he is referring are exact copies of the Calder Hall Reactor, and therefore they can go ahead with production straight away, whereas the plants referred to in the White Paper are primarily for the production of electricity, which the others are not, and therefore there are questions of design and of siting and all that sort of thing.