VISCOUNT ALEXANDER OF HILLS-BOROUGHasked Her Majesty's Government whether it is a general rule that, in developing nuclear power electricity production centres, sites for this purpose should not be near built-up areas; whether this is due to the dangers of any harmful radio-activity which may be caused; and, if so, why it has been decided to construct such a station at Bradwell, Essex, which is within two miles of the urban district of West Mersea.
THE EARL OF HOMEI would refer the noble Lord to paragraph 37 of the Government's White Paper on Nuclear Power (Cmd. 9389) which explains that the first stations, even though they will be of inherently safe design, will not be800WA constructed in heavily built-up areas. The Urban District of West Mersea, with a population of about 3,000, is not regarded as a heavily built-up area. The policy we are following is no more than an extra safety precaution as we are advised that nuclear power stations will present no greater element of risk to people living near them than many industrial works in built-up areas.