HC Deb 09 July 1979 vol 970 cc23-4W
Mr. Hooley

asked the Secretary of State for Energy what would be the total capital cost of a nuclear power programme designed to produce the 40 GW of installed nuclear capacity by the year 2000 as envisaged in the energy policy Green Paper (Cmnd. 7101, p. 55), assuming cost of construction remains constant at 1979 prices and taking into account the need to replace some of the existing Magnox stations within the next 20 years.

Mr. Norman Lamont

Excluding the 5 GW of AGRs already built or building, the capital cost of constructing 35 GW of nuclear capacity by the year 2000—assuming 1979 prices—is estimated to be of the order of £25 billion.

Mr. Hooley

asked the Secretary of State for Energy if he will publish in the Official Report a calculation showing the annual saving in oil consumption in the United Kingdom that will accrue by the year 2000 if an installed nuclear generating capacity of 40 GW is achieved by that date as envisaged in the energy policy Green Paper (Cmnd. 7101), assuming a 1 per cent. annual growth in energy demand from the current year to 2000 and that the percentage of total delivered energy as electricity remains 14 per cent. as at present.

Mr. Norman Lamont

An energy scenario of the specification mentioned in this question has not been considered by my Department. In the scenario closest to it and the other scenarios now being studied, oil usage in power stations by the end of the century is minimal.

Mr. Dobson

asked the Secretary of State for Energy when he expects Heysham B nuclear power station to (a) supply power to the national grid and (b) to produce its full design output.

Mr. Norman Lamont

The target programme is for the first unit of Heysham II nuclear power station to supply power to the national grid in 1986 and for full design output a year later, with the station fully operational by 1987–88.