HL Deb 08 March 1990 vol 516 cc1259-61

3.16 p.m.

Lord Campbell of Croy asked Her Majesty's Government:

How much electricity was produced and how much income was earned by the prototype fast reactor at Dounreay in 1989, and how these compare with previous years.

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, in 1989 the prototype fast reactor at Dounreay generated 43,439 megawatt days net of electricity earning approximately £13 million in electricity receipts. This represents a significant improvement over previous years.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for that reply, which may include a record in the results. As this reactor is functioning so well and has the special merit of efficiency with fuel, are the Government seeking to continue work in this technology with our EC partners so that the advantages gained from British expertise and success are not lost?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, the figure is a record. However, the net cost to the Government of keeping the PFR plant operating is around £25 million a year. To that figure should be added around £25 million to cover the cost of reprocessing and waste management. The Government concluded that they would not be justified in continuing to spend public funds at that rate beyond March 1994 against the likely time-scale of commercial introduction of the technology nor on the acquisition of additional technical information. By 1993 the main design work on the European fast reactor will be complete and operating experience gained from the PFR thereafter will be less beneficial.

The Earl of Halsbury

My Lords, will the noble Viscount confirm that it is essential to keep the prototype fast reactor going at Dounreay with an overlap with the European fast reactor because it represents a materials testing laboratory, among other things? We cannot do accelerated ageing tests on materials. We can only wait until they have been fully tested for their lifetime. Is not the increasing burn-up at Dounreay a credit to the engineers in charge, coupled as it is to the facility for reprocessing which will be adopted for the European fast reactor? Is it not therefore sensible to keep it going?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, the Government stated in 1988 that they would continue the work on the prototype fast reactor until 1994 and on the reprocessing plant until 1997, and would scale down the amount of money spent on R&D—mostly as a support to the design team for the European fast reactor—to £10 million for the future.

Lord Williams of Elvel

My Lords, will the European fast reactor be based entirely on French technology or will the experience of Dounreay be used? Will the noble Viscount tell us whether the costings of the fast reactor will be accurate this time, so that we do not have the surprises with regard to decommissioning and other costs that led us to conclude that nuclear power in general is uneconomical?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, the design work for the European fast reactor is carried out by design companies in the collaboration countries—that is, the United Kingdom, France and Germany—and is paid for largely by the utilities. It started in March 1988 with the conceptual design phase and it is planned to start the three-year concepts validation phase in April of this year. The European Fast Reactor Utilities Group will review the position in 1993, at which time it will be decided whether to proceed to a detailed site design. That indicates that we are still a long way from the construction of a European fast reactor. As for the decommissioning costs, I cannot give any figures on decommissioning costs for Dounreay.

Lord Stoddart of Swindon

My Lords, according to figures given to the House, the Government will in fact save £50 million a year—for a year or two, anyway—by not continuing with Dounreay. Are the Government planning to use that £50 million for further research into renewable sources of energy and for the conservation of energy?

Viscount Ullswater

My Lords, the Government will certainly be saving the initial £25 million—not £50 million as suggested by the noble Lord because £25 million will be required to keep the reprocessing plant going until 1997. Renewables are not being starved of investment.