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Adjournment debate on Thursday, 19 April 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Peter Luff. The answering member was Malcolm Wicks.

Nuclear Industry

Westminster Hall adjournment debate on the nuclear industry. Agreed on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
459 c147-96WH 
Session
2006-07
Department
Department of Trade and Industry
Chamber / Committee
Westminster Hall
Related items
Proceeding contributions
Michael Connarty | 459 c186WH (Link to this contribution) Is not the hon. Gentleman arguing about the problem of grid systems rather than the source of the en...
David Howarth | 459 c186WH (Link to this contribution) No, it is not about the grid system; it is about any grid system with a high percentage of nuclear p...
Show all contributions (104)
Michael Connarty | 459 c186WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to take the hon. Gentleman up on this. If a huge array of wind power was generating elect...
David Howarth | 459 c188WH (Link to this contribution) I will not, because I need to finish my speech to allow the Minister and the spokesman for the offic...
Charles Hendry | 459 c188-90WH (Link to this contribution) May I begin by drawing the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests,...
David Howarth | 459 c187WH (Link to this contribution) No, the problem would be that the nuclear stations could not be turned off and that is why the grid ...
Michael Connarty | 459 c187WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to keep coming back at the hon. Gentleman, but I must point out that the PB Power report ...
David Howarth | 459 c188WH (Link to this contribution) Of course, those estimates are changing over time as new cost estimates are coming through. I am tal...
Charles Hendry | 459 c195WH (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to the Minister for giving way, given our time constraints. When he went to Finla...
Malcolm Wicks | 459 c195-6WH (Link to this contribution) I recognise that, too. I should assure hon. Members that we have learnt lessons from other nations a...
Charles Hendry | 459 c190-2WH (Link to this contribution) I will not give way, because I want to give the Minister time to respond. I hope the hon. Gentleman ...
Malcolm Wicks | 459 c192-5WH (Link to this contribution) I, too, think that this has been a useful debate. I have immense regard for the Select Committee sys...
David Drew | 459 c190WH (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
David Howarth | 459 c196WH (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Minister could explain his Department’s response to the Environmental Audit Committee’s ...
Malcolm Wicks | 459 c196WH (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I can explain it. I am not sure that I understand the question. Let me reflect on...
Malcolm Wicks | 459 c196WH (Link to this contribution) On the subject of wind power, I give way briefly.
Speaker | 459 c166WH (Link to this contribution) Order. I have been very tolerant so far and I am happy to continue to be so, but this contribution i...
Michael Connarty | 459 c148-9WH (Link to this contribution) I presume that, during its inquiries, the Committee looked at the report of the Parliamentary Office...
Peter Luff | 459 c148WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that admiration; the feeling is mutual. The Trade and Industry Committee decided ...
Malcolm Wicks | 459 c148WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is doing well.
Peter Luff | 459 c147-8WH (Link to this contribution) The Trade and Industry Committee produced its fourth report of the 2005-06 Session, ““New nuclear? E...
Peter Luff | 459 c153-4WH (Link to this contribution) I am encouraged to hear that. It is not what I was able to determine during my researches for this d...
Jamie Reed | 459 c152-3WH (Link to this contribution) There is no doubt that the waste legacy is the elephant in the room of nuclear policy. The Governmen...
Peter Luff | 459 c154WH (Link to this contribution) Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd has extensive experience of reactor technology, and many of its reactors...
Michael Connarty | 459 c154WH (Link to this contribution) Two things confuse me about this. First, on whether AP1000 has been built, I understand that a serie...
Peter Luff | 459 c149WH (Link to this contribution) I am reluctant to overstate my case, but that is indeed what most of the evidence suggests—a point e...
Peter Luff | 459 c150-2WH (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. Although not the subject of the debate, a...
Tobias Ellwood | 459 c149-50WH (Link to this contribution) I commend my hon. Friend on his leadership of the Committee and on its report. Has the Committee con...
Peter Luff | 459 c155WH (Link to this contribution) To my immediate recollection, we did not receive any evidence on that subject during our inquiry and...
David Drew | 459 c154WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman did not mention the role of Westinghouse. Some of us are still spitting feathers ...
Tobias Ellwood | 459 c155WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has been very generous in allowing people to contribute while he delivers his main sp...
Speaker | 459 c157WH (Link to this contribution) I am waiting for Members to catch my eye, and I have here a number of letters from those who wish to...
Jamie Reed | 459 c157WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Cook—I was momentarily elsewhere. I welcome this debate, which is long overdue. The ...
Jamie Reed | 459 c157-8WH (Link to this contribution) Well, there we go. I think that my interests have been declared and are well and truly understood. ...
Peter Luff | 459 c155-7WH (Link to this contribution) I am indeed aware of that technology. Once again, sadly, to the best of my recollection, the Committ...
Peter Luff | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) The point about consensus is not a theoretical political point, but a practical, economic one. Witho...
Jamie Reed | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point. In a way I think that he supports my point. We need to give...
Michael Connarty | 459 c158WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend may know that I completely disagree with him if he is one of those who voted to renew...
Jamie Reed | 459 c158WH (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend touches on an incredibly important point. First, good luck with keeping the lights on...
Peter Luff | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) In fact my view is that my party’s policy, because it is more robust on carbon pricing than the Gove...
Speaker | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman is seeking guidance, my advice is that as long as the new material is relevant...
Andy Reed | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) I sincerely hope that the Conservative party will move on that, so that we can give the industry com...
David Howarth | 459 c160WH (Link to this contribution) I ask the hon. Gentleman to reflect on the point made by the Chairman of the Select Committee that, ...
Jamie Reed | 459 c159-60WH (Link to this contribution) I have no doubt about that whatsoever. Security of supply is touched on in some detail by the repor...
Speaker | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) I will soon let you know if it is not.
Jamie Reed | 459 c159WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Cook. I think that you will find that it is.
Jamie Reed | 459 c160WH (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention. In my constituency there are probably more than 100 tonnes of u...
Peter Luff | 459 c160WH (Link to this contribution) May I invite the hon. Gentleman, bearing in mind some of the scepticism that I expressed towards the...
Jamie Reed | 459 c160-1WH (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. It is clear that countries such as Canad...
Peter Luff | 459 c161-2WH (Link to this contribution) I am sure that the hon. Gentleman’s comments are absolutely germane, although another Chair may not ...
Speaker | 459 c162WH (Link to this contribution) Order. I will explain to hon. Members why I have adopted such an attitude to this debate. The title ...
David Howarth | 459 c186WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is making an error that many people make when discussing electricity. They think ...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c180WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has made an enormously important point. Does he share my hope that, in responding...
Michael Connarty | 459 c180WH (Link to this contribution) I certainly have that aspiration, but I must also commend the Minister. When he was Minister for Ene...
Jamie Reed | 459 c180WH (Link to this contribution) I would like to tell my hon. Friend and others that I am an ““imby? and have made several requests f...
Michael Connarty | 459 c181-2WH (Link to this contribution) That is my experience when talking to my hon. Friend the Member for East Lothian (Anne Moffat), who ...
David Howarth | 459 c182WH (Link to this contribution) I start by congratulating the Chair of the Trade and Industry Committee on securing this debate, but...
David Drew | 459 c182WH (Link to this contribution) Does that include the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (John Thurso)?
David Howarth | 459 c182-3WH (Link to this contribution) Yes, absolutely. My lonely role here today is to represent those who are still far from convinced th...
Michael Connarty | 459 c183WH (Link to this contribution) I have to inform the hon. Gentleman that I questioned the person responsible for the first and most ...
David Howarth | 459 c183-4WH (Link to this contribution) It was significant that the Chairman of the Committee said that the finances are rapidly changing wi...
Jamie Reed | 459 c184WH (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman aware of the radiation dose received by the European population as a result of...
Michael Connarty | 459 c178-80WH (Link to this contribution) I have always argued that, in the chemical industry, the polluter should pay, and it is certainly se...
Jamie Reed | 459 c184WH (Link to this contribution) The largest dose that the European population receives per head from radioactivity comes from the ex...
David Howarth | 459 c184WH (Link to this contribution) I should be grateful to receive the document, although I cannot see what relevance such information ...
David Howarth | 459 c184WH (Link to this contribution) I should be grateful if the hon. Gentleman would tell me.
Peter Luff | 459 c185WH (Link to this contribution) Throughout the whole of Europe, overwhelming research goes into coal. That is where the public suppo...
David Howarth | 459 c185WH (Link to this contribution) I heard the Chairman of the Committee change the unit of analysis. He was talking about Europe; I wa...
Peter Luff | 459 c184WH (Link to this contribution) I do not have a mandate to defend the industry, although it is true that broadly I am sympathetic to...
David Howarth | 459 c184-5WH (Link to this contribution) When upgrading reactors, even Canadian projects have come in massively over budget. So even there, i...
David Drew | 459 c186WH (Link to this contribution) I was talking about the interconnector. We are a major importer of the French nuclear industry, and ...
Jamie Reed | 459 c185WH (Link to this contribution) That is an anti-nuclear fantasy of long standing. This spectre of ““the industry? is invoked every t...
David Howarth | 459 c185-6WH (Link to this contribution) I was not suggesting that the risks from nuclear power stations in this country and western Europe a...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c167-8WH (Link to this contribution) We cannot have it both ways. Either the nuclear licensing regime in this country is the gold standar...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c166-7WH (Link to this contribution) Mr. Cook, I recognise that. Felixstowe harbour was merely an example, if I may say so, of a successf...
Jamie Reed | 459 c167WH (Link to this contribution) I do not think that the hon. Gentleman was attacking the nuclear installations inspectorate. I certa...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c171WH (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman will find that EDF remains EDF. EDF is the operating utility that ow...
David Drew | 459 c169-71WH (Link to this contribution) That is an absolutely pivotal point. We are talking about two interrelated but separate systems. We ...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c169WH (Link to this contribution) Would the hon. Gentleman agree that when we discuss renewables we are really talking about non-base-...
David Drew | 459 c169WH (Link to this contribution) I would never in any way disagree about the precise figures or percentages; that is an issue that I ...
Michael Connarty | 459 c169WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt my hon. Friend when he has just got into his stride. However, I must say tha...
David Drew | 459 c168-9WH (Link to this contribution) I am delighted to follow the hon. Member for Grantham and Stamford (Mr. Davies). I am also delighted...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c168WH (Link to this contribution) That is exactly what I wanted to hear. If anybody from the NII should read this debate in Hansard, w...
Peter Luff | 459 c168WH (Link to this contribution) It may reassure my hon. Friend to know that the Select Committee took evidence from the nuclear inst...
David Drew | 459 c171WH (Link to this contribution) I accept that and take the hon. Gentleman’s clarification in the best spirit. The point is that ther...
David Howarth | 459 c171WH (Link to this contribution) I am sorry to interrupt the hon. Gentleman. The nuclear issue has been raised by a number of bodies ...
David Howarth | 459 c177WH (Link to this contribution) I invite the hon. Gentleman to make it clear that the base load is only 20 per cent. of the entire e...
Michael Connarty | 459 c175-7WH (Link to this contribution) I say with some pride that I have been a member of the board of the Parliamentary Office of Science ...
Jamie Reed | 459 c177-8WH (Link to this contribution) On the issue of waste and Scotland, all the waste that is produced by the nuclear industry in Scotla...
Michael Connarty | 459 c177WH (Link to this contribution) My understanding is that 29 per cent. of our electricity was generated by nuclear in 1979. That perc...
Speaker | 459 c174WH (Link to this contribution) There must be some difficulty with eyesight in the Chamber today. It is plainly stated here. The ter...
Michael Connarty | 459 c174WH (Link to this contribution) Should I address you as Mr. Deputy Speaker in Westminster Hall, Mr. Cook, or as Mr. Chairman? What i...
Peter Luff | 459 c175WH (Link to this contribution) I am most grateful for what the hon. Gentleman said about the Committee’s report. Since he intervene...
Michael Connarty | 459 c174-5WH (Link to this contribution) That is a pity, Mr. Cook, because I would certainly be happy to accord you that status, knowing the ...
David Drew | 459 c171-4WH (Link to this contribution) I take that information as being completely genuine. The reality is that it will not make a blind bi...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c163-4WH (Link to this contribution) I want to congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Mid-Worcestershire (Peter Luff), the Chairman o...
Jamie Reed | 459 c162-3WH (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr. Cook. I am grateful for your guidance. In the interests of other hon. Members who wis...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c164-5WH (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman, for whom I have great regard, may possibly be missing something. I think that hi...
Michael Connarty | 459 c164WH (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman warmly for giving way. As a long-term Labour Member, I am naturally attra...
Lord Davies of Stamford | 459 c165-6WH (Link to this contribution) I mean Mr. Cook. I never know whether I am supposed to say, ““Mr. Speaker?, ““Mr. Cook? or ““Mr. Cha...
Subjects
Decommissioning British Nuclear Fuels Construction Carbon dioxide Energy supply Radioactive waste Nuclear power Nuclear Decommissioning Authority Nuclear fuel reprocessing Nuclear power stations Pollution control Proliferation Safety
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