§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) what is the current estimate of the capital cost of a pressurised water nuclear reactor; how this compares with the United States' figures; and what is the current rate of increase in the capital cost;
(2) in view of the large losses made by American, German, French and Japanese exporters of pressurised water nuclear reactors, what prospect he sees of profitable exporting by British firms offering the same product; and how long it would take before the British industry became competitive with foreign manufacturers.
§ Mr. BennI would draw the attention of my hon. Friend to the report of the National Nuclear Corporation on the choice of thermal reactor systems, a copy of which is in the Library of the House. This gives the latest advice I have received on the points raised by my hon. Friend. I am advised that a direct comparison of capital costs with United States figures is not possible because there are 15W a number of differences between United States and United Kingdom practice for which it is difficult to allow. These include safety requirements, wage rates and productivity, scale of manufacture, interest rates, and the extent to which allowance is made for future inflation.
§ Mr. Walter Johnsonasked the Secretary of State for Energy (1) if, in coming to his decision on the choice of a reactor system, he will have regard to existing British expertise in pressurised water reactor design and construction, as a result of the involvement of Rolls-Royce (1971) Ltd. and Rolls-Royce and Associates in propulsion systems for nuclear submarines
(2) if, when the future policy is determined concerning nuclear generating plant in power stations, he will take into account the additional employment this will provide and, with the world-wide export possibilities, that there would be considerable increase in employment in the industry.
§ Mr. BennYes. In reaching the decisions on thermal reactor strategy which I announced on 25th January the Government took full account of the factors mentioned by my hon. Friend.