§ Mr. Cook asked the Secretary of State for Energy what was the initial capital cost of the modified gaseous diffusion enrichment plant opened at Capenhurst in 1968; what was the value of the subsidy provided by the Ministry of Defence in terms of the original defence diffusion plant; what was the nature of the modification carried out; and what was the expected and achieved throughput of the plant.
§ Mr. John Moore:The modifications to the Capenhurst gaseous diffesion plant which opened in 1968 cost about £15 million. The modifications involved changes in design of the low enrichment stages in the plant to increase their capacity. The cost of the original stages involved in the modified plant had been fully recovered by the operator—at that time the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority—before its start—up. The plant will have generated some 4,000 tonnes of separative work prior to its closure in 1982, well in line with design expectations.