§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what is his estimate of the volume of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere by(a) the construction of Britain's Magnox AGR and PWR reactors and (b) the operation of Britain's nuclear reactors;
(2) what is his estimate of the carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere in the manufacture, quarrying and engineering of all building materials used in the building of Sizewell B PWR.
§ Mr. Maclean[holding answers 29 March 1993]: I have been asked to reply.
It is very difficult to estimate the volumes of carbon dioxide released in the construction and operation of nuclear power plant, although the available estimates suggest that life cycle emissions are unlikely to exceed one twentieth of those from an equivalent coal fired plant; and 161W only about ten percent of this is likely to be incurred during the construction phase of a PWR station. Estimate specific to the construction of Size well B are not available.