§ Mr. Skeetasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) whether he is prepared to permit the National Nuclear Corporation or the Nuclear Power Company to reassess the values of SGHWRs, AGRs, and PWRs in the light of current United Kingdom conditions;
(2) when he proposes to make a further statement about the construction of the proposed SGHWR power station to be situated at Sizewell, Suffolk;
(3) what is his estimate of the cost of a prototype SGHWR, reference design with two 660 MW sets, proposed to be built in the United Kingdom, compared with the cost of building AGRs and LWRs of similar capacities.
§ Mr. BennOn the advice of the Atomic Energy Authority I am currently taking stock of progress with the SGHWR programme. The National Nuclear Corporation has proposed that the Nuclear Power Company should carry out an assessment of the SGHWR, AGR 563W and PWR systems. I have agreed to this proposal on the clear understanding that the carrying out of the assessment will in no way jeopardise the nuclear industry's ability to start work on site on SGHWR early in 1979. The Government are in no way committed to the conclusions. I understand that the assessment can be completed in six months. It will include the preparation of estimates of the comparative costs of the three systems.