§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will take steps to verify the recent financial projections British Nuclear Fuels plc has made in regard to THORP at Sellafield.
§ Mr. EggarBritish Nuclear Fuels plc has advised me that for the United Kingdom to abandon the THORP project would cost the country as a whole over £1 billion—at a 6 per cent. discount rate—and some 3,000 jobs, even if there were no requirement to repay overseas customers their investments. This projection, which was made with the assistance of the accountants Touche Ross and Co., which has been discussed in detail between my officials and BNFL. While I am not in a position to verify every figure, the methodology is considered to be sound and we have no reason to believe the numbers to be inaccurate.