ELECTRICITY (AMENDMENT) BILL (Hansard, 24 January 1961)

§ THE PAYMASTER GENERAL (LORD MILLS)
My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill be read a second time. Its purpose is to extend the statutory powers of the Central Electricity Generating Board so that they may be able to produce radio-isotopes by irradiating materials tin the reactors of their nuclear power stations and sell them commercially. By radio-isotopes I mean those artificially produced radioactive materials which are coming to be used more and more in industry, medicine and research for making examinations 1185 through thicknesses of material or tissue, for treating certain diseases and for tracing biological and industrial pro-ceases. Before saying anything more about radio-isotopes and their uses, let me explain why the Generating Board may not produce them without a specific extension of their powers.
Section 2 (7) of the Electricity Act, 1957, debars the Generating Board from manufacturing anything, except what they or any Area Board require for the purposes of research or development, or for the repair or maintenance of their equipment". This provision was inserted after a good deal of discussion when the 1957 Bill was debated in another place, and it was also explained in your Lordships' House. Its main object was to ensure that the Board did not extend its activities beyond the initial purposes for which Parliament created it. Hence the Board may not manufacture and trade in radio-isotopes unless the 1957 Act is amended. That is what this Bill sets out to do.
To return to radio-isotopes and their uses, such information as I can give to your Lordships is not the result of practical knowledge or experience on my part, so I should like to apologise beforehand for any shortcomings of which I may be guilty. Radio-isotopes can take the form of solids, liquids or gases. Even when embedded in other material or tissue they emit radiation which can be detected by photographic films and electronic instruments. In medical research, for instance, radioactive iron injected into the blood has revealed the chemical mechanism of the blood's colouring matter. Radioactive iodine has similarly thrown light on the working of the thyroid gland. When a sample of the body's constituents is thus labelled with radioactivity and can be detected by the means I have mentioned, the course and timing of bodily processes can be followed. Radio-isotopes also have their uses in the treatment of diseases, such as cancers and tumours.
In industry radio-isotopes provide a cheap and convenient form of radiographic source, whereby photographs can be taken through thicknesses of material to test the quality of castings and welds. When they are incorporated in a liquid or gas the movement of the liquid or gas 1186 can be traced; leaks from pipes and spillage from tanks can be detected, the uniformity of mixtures can be checked, and even the movement of mud in estuaries, for example, can be determined. When incorporated in a metal bearing, a radio-isotope will reveal the extent of wear. When attached to a hidden part in a machine a radio-isotope will show its position or movement. Gauges containing a radio-isotope will accurately measure small variations in film or sheet in the course of production.
Most of the radio-isotopes made in the United Kingdom are at present produced by irradiation in the reactors of the Atomic Energy Authority. Sales have been steadily increasing, and last year about 700 firms in the United Kingdom were using them, resulting in substantial savings. The field for their use is capable of great expansion, both at home and abroad. Exports, at about £620,000, have more than doubled in the last four years, and represent more than half the total United Kingdom sales. The other principal exporting country is the United States, whose exports amounted to about £460,000 in 1959. The United Kingdom is thus occupying an extremely favourable position in this trade. We must, however, expect increased competition as other countries build reactors where radio-isotopes can be produced by irradiation.
The irradiation facilities available in the Atomic Energy Authority's reactors are nearing their limit. Fortunately, however, large additional capacity will be available when the Generating Board's nuclear power stations are commissioned. If this potential capacity can be used for isotope production, we shall be in a position not only to increase the use of radio-isotopes at home but also to take advantage of expanding markets abroad. Fortunately, these advantages cart be obtained at comparatively little cost. The Board estimate that adaptations in the Bradwell and Hinckley Point reactors, where they intend first to produce radio-isotopes, will cost about £200,000 in all. With the market expanding as it is, there is reason to believe that the return on this outlay will be very satisfactory indeed.
I would submit, therefore, that there is the strongest economic justification 1187 for enabling the Board to undertake this business. There are, however, three further points I should like to make. First, no one in this country, except the Authority, is likely to have capacity for producing radio-isotopes on any scale approaching that of the Generating Board, and there is thus no question of their trespassing on the preserves of private industry. Secondly, the Bill does not empower the Board to carry out any processing apart from the irradiation of materials in their reactors. They intend for the time being to sell the irradiated material to the Authority for finishing and marketing, but there is nothing in the Bill to prevent them from selling to any private firms who may be equipped for these operations. Thirdly, I am assured that the generation of electricity will not be adversely affected, since the neutrons used to irradiate these materials are surplus to the generation of electricity and would otherwise have to be absorbed and so wasted. I hope, therefore, that your Lordships will agree to give the Bill a Second Reading. I beg to move.

§ LORD SHACKLETON
My Lords, this is, of course, a completely non-contentious measure, and it is one that is welcomed on this side of the House. The noble Lord gave us a helpful description of what isotopes are; and the fact remains that the use for these products is quite infinite. We are at only the beginning of the use of isotopes as a research tool. I think there is little for me to say (I having, I regret to say, become aware of this Bill only a few minutes ago) beyond reserving, the possibility of making some points on the Committee stage.
There was one matter in particular that the noble Lord referred to which I did not quite follow, and that was whether it is wise to limit the powers of the Authority with regard to what I gathered he described as "further processing". We have already in this Bill the need to amend an Act, the 1957 Electricity Act; and, although I do not think the time of the House can be said to be wasted on a matter of this kind, which provides us with an opportunity to 1188 consider something of great importance and of great interest, I am wondering whether the Government may not again have to come to the House with a further amending Bill.
I hope that the position of the Central Electricity Authority will be looked at not merely from the point of view of being able to do something which nobody else is in a position to do. I am sure that, when we look at these things as objectively as I know the Minister does, there is no need to explain the matter away by saying that it is safe to give it to the Central Electricity Authority because private enterprise cannot do it. It might even be conceivable that a little competition in this field would one day be a good thing. In so far as they acquire knowledge and new techniques (which are bound to be expensive because of the handling complications of radio-isotopes), it may well be that the Central Electricity Authority will naturally 'wish, in the commercial interest of the country as a whole, to develop certain further techniques; and if the Minister would care to say something on that point we should be interested.
But, apart from that, we certainly welcome the Bill, and I am sure we ought to be very pleased to see a development of a kind that is going to enable us in the export field to perhaps get that lead in advanced products which is so essential. We have to bear in mind that electricity nuclear power stations are going to spring up in other parts of the world. Only a few months ago I saw the first of the nuclear power stations that are being built in Asia going up in Japan, and there is no doubt that one day we may be competing with Japanese radioisotopes. Therefore anything we can do at this stage to develop and keep the lead which we have won so far is to be commended.

§ LORD MILLS
My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Shackleton, for his helpful remarks. I agree with him that we are at the beginning of what looks like a very important development in many directions—in the medical field and in helping industry. These developments are growing apace now, and we want to take every advantage of the nuclear reactors which are being built 1189 by the Central Electricity Generating Board to forward this business.
It is true that, for the moment, it is proposed that the Generating Board should not be concerned in the processing and marketing of the radio-isotopes, except to the Atomic Energy Authority. I am not going to say that at some future date we may not come forward with a flutter extension of the Board's powers; but we always have to keep in mind that their principal job is to generate electricity, and this seems a very happy combination: that they can produce the radio-isotopes and leave it to the Atomic Energy Authority to process them and market them, which they are doing very 1190 efficiently to-day. Also it leaves the way open for other people, if they are able, to come in and help to extend this business, in which we have the lead to-day. And, in spite of the competition we shall undoubtedly face, we have some reason to hope we can keep this lead. I am very grateful to the noble Lord and I hope that your Lordships will now give the Bill a Second Reading.