§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy why Her Majesty's Government are not supporting the EEC research project at Super-Sara PWR unit.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe Super-Sara project is designed to investigate the behaviour of fuel elements in a light water reactor when the coolant fails. This is a subject of considerable importance in the field of reactor safety, and a number of facilities already exist or are under construction in Europe and the rest of the world to investigate the problem. But I am not yet convinced that the Super-Sara project is fully cost-effective or that the resources which the Commission proposes should be dedicated to Super-Sara could not be deployed more usefully on other light water reactor safety research. At the last meeting of the Research Council, several member States also voiced their concern about the project. I am currently reviewing the attitude that the United Kingdom should take at the next meeting of the Research Council on 20 December.