HC Deb 29 November 1976 vol 921 cc460-1
9. Mr. Newton

asked the Secretary of State for Energy how many representations he has received from members of the public in the current year about nuclear energy problems.

Mr. Eadie

My right hon. Friend and I have received 658 letters and 12 petitions from members of the public.

Mr. Newton

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that that is some evidence of the growing public anxiety about these matters, and especially about nuclear waste? As this is bound more and more to affect public attitudes to the whole nuclear programme, will the hon. Gentleman ask his right hon. Friend to lend his weight to the demand for a public inquiry into the Windscale proposals?

Mr. Eadie

I think that I should identify the letters, because by doing so it may help to get rid of some of the confusion that may be in the hon. Gentleman's mind. The following is the breakdown of the letters: on safety and security there were 391 letters and six petitions; on nuclear fuel supplies there were 10 letters; on international aspects of nuclear power there were eight letters; on reactor policy there were 231 letters and six petitions; on the place of nuclear power in energy policy there were 14 letters; on the economics of nuclear electricity generation there were three letters.

I think that there is a good deal of misunderstanding about this whole issue, particularly when people suggest that the overseas business to be undertaken at Windscale is the indefinite storage of foreign nuclear waste. That is not so. The work is the reprocessing of irradiated fuel, and contracts with overseas customers will contain options allowing for the return of waste to the country of origin.

Mr. Hugh Fraser

Surely the hon. Gentleman has received messages from, among others, trade unions on whether the right nuclear policy is being pursued, and is it not time that we got on with the American licences so that we can get ahead in the export market, which we cannot do with the SGHWR?

Mr. Eadie

I cannot agree with the right hon. Gentleman, but, in answer to his first question I can tell him that I recently visited Windscale, met the trade unions, and listened to their point of view. That has been widely reported in the Press. I must ask the right hon. Gentleman to recollect some of the publicity that has been given to this matter. The fact is that the trade unions and the people that work there are in favour of it.