§ 2.54 p.m.
§ Lord HYLTONMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question which stands in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government when they expect that the nuclear power station at Calder Hall, Cumbria, which was commissioned in 1956, will reach the end of its useful life, and what steps will then be taken to make it safe for the long period during which it will remain radioactive.
The MINISTER of STATE, DEPARTMENT of EMPLOYMENT (The Earl of Gowrie)My Lords, assuming that Calder Hall continues to be an economic and reliable supplier of electricity, and its continued operation is approved by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, its operational life could extend beyond 1990. Decommissioning would begin with the removal of the nuclear fuel, which contains the highly radioactive fission products, for reprocessing. Surveillance and safety requirements for the remaining structures, containing only relatively small amounts of radioactivity, would then be minimal. How long it would be before these were removed would depend on the balance between removal costs (which will decline as the residual radioactivity decays) and the value of the site for other uses.
§ Lord HYLTONMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for his reply. Is it not a fact that the designed life of these stations was at first taken to be 25 years? Can my noble friend say how it is possible to extend that life by a further nine years?
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, the life and use of these installations is a subject for constant monitoring, and that is how it has been found possible to extend the life in this case.
§ Lord AVEBURYMy Lords, does not the information given by the noble Earl confirm that the CEGB and other authorities have in the past been conservative in the estimates that they have made of the potential life of nuclear power stations? If we are now talking about a period of 742 service of 34 years instead of, I think, 30 years which the CEGB used in its calculations, does this not have implications in regard to the ordering programme for stations planned by the CEGB, and should this not be much smaller as a result of the increased length of life?
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, when dealing with the life of any installation it is of course difficult to be altogether precise, but the important point here is that, even after an installation has come to the end of its useful life, it is still subject to the monitoring process as the deradioactivisation takes place.
§ Lord HANKEYMy Lords, can the Government confirm that the cheapest source of electricity in this country at present comes from the nuclear power programme and the nuclear stations which are already installed? Is it not true that in Scotland the price of electricity went up less than it did in other parts of the United Kingdom because the electricity was produced at Dounreay by the fast reactor? Will the Government give consideration to taking an early decision about proceeding with a proper programme for nuclear fast breeder reactors?
The Earl of GOWRIEMy Lords, these points are under consideration as a matter of urgency by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Energy.