§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Energy what are the reasons which led him to reply to the hon. Member for Sheffield, Heeley (Mr. Hooley) Official Report, 26 November, column 862, that the advance gas-cooled reactor programme has given cheap electricity; and if he will publish the costs of electricity produced by advance gas-cooled reactors and the comparative costs for Magnox stations.
§ Mr. Norman LamontThe costs of generation in 1978–79 from Magnox and the one CEGB AGR station, and from coal and oil-fired stations, commissioned since 1 April 1965 were given in answer to the hon. Member for Stretford (Mr. Churchill on 23 November.—[Vol. 974, c.381.] My supplementary answer on 26 November was based on that calculation. Although not fully commissioned during that year, the AGR at Hinkley Point produced electricity at an accounting cost comparable with a modern oil or coal-fired station. If the station had not been operating, the marginal cost to the system of generating the electricity from an alternative existing station would have been greater. Analysis of historic costs does not provide the basis for future investment decisions.
Power stations in Scotland are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland.