Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Baroness O'Cathain (Conservative). It was answered on Monday, 30 January 2006.

Energy Policy

Question: My Lords, can the Minister give us some comfort on this point? If we are to lose the only nuclear-build organisation in this country—it has been sold, it is a done deal and there are all sorts of reasons for and against it—will some of the proceeds, as my noble friend said, be directed towards maintaining a group of people of the highest possible calibre so that, if we go down the nuclear route, at least we shall have an in-house team in this country able to assess the pros and cons of various other options and market forces? The last thing we need is to find ourselves with no capability or general knowledge on nuclear matters. Perhaps the Minister could reconsider his comment and bring to the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer that that would be very worth while in the long term.

Answer: My Lords, I am not sure that I need to bring this to the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I reassure the noble Baroness that the Government already devote resources and are committed to the continuance of the resources that sustain our nuclear skills. There is no question that ever since the first energy White Paper, we have recognised the necessity, as we said at the time, to keep the nuclear option open. That necessitated investment in skills, and we shall continue with such investment. Therefore, I assure the noble Baroness that, if additional skills and additional people are identified as being required in this area, a proper request on Government would be to enhance the skills of the nation, and we shall meet that if that event occurs.

Secondary information

Type: Oral question
Reference: 678 c3
Session: 2005-06
Oral question type: Supplementary
Chamber / Committee: House of Lords chamber
Subjects: British Nuclear Fuels Construction Nuclear power stations Sales Energy Policy Progress Review Westinghouse