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Nuclear Industry

I was not suggesting that the risks from nuclear power stations in this country and western Europe are in the same league as those from former Soviet bloc power stations. I was making a point about the cap on liability. A cap on liability is a massive subsidy to the whole nuclear industry. If the industry had to bear that liability itself, it would make the industry uneconomic. That fact cannot be denied. Nuclear plants are not as reliable as the hon. Gentleman has implied. There are various estimates for load factors in excess of 90 per cent. Last year, four Swedish plants had to be turned off at the same time because of an accident in one of them. That is a warning to those who propose that the Government should help the industry by ensuring that a single design for the new nuclear fleet is brought forward. The problem with that is if, as happened in Sweden, one discovers a very dangerous flaw in one plant, all the plants of the same design would have to be turned off at once. That is one of the biggest threats that one could imagine to security and continuity of supply. Similarly last year, a Spanish plant, which was responsible for 20 per cent. of the country’s electricity demand, had to be turned off because it overheated in the hot weather. Even the French had to turn off the Dampierre plant this month. Members might remember an incident last year when the whole of northern France lost power for days on end. That happened because the connection between France and Germany was damaged. The French electricity system is predominantly nuclear-powered. It is massively inflexible and cannot cope with having its connection with another country broken. The French grid exports and imports vast amounts of electricity. Therefore, the claim made by the hon. Member for Stroud (Mr. Drew) that the French independent grid system is the best in the world is quite false. The French depend on import and export because nuclear power is so inflexible.