§ 5. Mr. Wingfield Digbyasked the Parliamentary Secretary for Science what plans he has for the building of an experimental boiling water reactor of a type suitable for installing in ships.
§ Mr. Denzil FreethI am informed by the Atomic Energy Authority that it has no present plans for building an experimental boiling water reactor, but that an advanced design is under study.
§ Mr. DigbyWill not the result be to put us further and further behind the Americans, since the amount spent on research is so very little?
§ Mr. FreethI do not think so. As my hon. Friend will recall, in the Adjournment debate which we had on this subject before Christmas, it was stated that the Atomic Energy Authority is investigating the possibilities of four major reactor systems. As for the boiling water reactor system, it is the Authority's opinion that the existing designs afford no economic incentive to proceed with the system. That is why it is making further design studies.