7 NOVEMBER 1992, Page 30

Staying power

Sir: We all expect journalists to be objec- tive. We expect them to be cynical. But we also have a right to expect them to be accu- rate. James Buchan's 'Forty years up in smoke' (24 October) was hopelessly wide of the mark.

First, Buchan's obsession with plutonium, the military and bombs has led him to con- fuse the first two stations at Calder Hall and Chapel Cross, which had a dual pur- pose and which now belong to British Nuclear Fuels, with Nuclear Electric's civil Magnox stations. We inherited the latter from the CEGB. Most of them were ordered in the wake of the Suez crisis to ensure that Britain had diversity and bal- ance in its energy supplies. In any case, that is old history and has nothing to do with current arguments about the state of Nucle- ar Electric's finances, the levy or continued generation from the Magnox stations. Second, the so-called nuclear levy is not intended to be a subsidy for Nuclear Elec- tric's continuing commercial operations. It is transient; it will cease within six years- It diminishes in real terms year on year, from /1.2 billion last year to .£745 million In 1997/98. It allows provisions to be built up to cover the costs of decommissioning the Magnox stations which have been operating for everyone's benefit over the last 30 years.

Whether or not they operate, they still have to be decommissioned and the radioactive waste still has to be managed and disposed of safely. If the stations were closed the costs would not be covered by electricity consumers, and would fall direct- ly on the taxpayer — without any offsetting receipts from electricity sales.

Third, modern PWRs do not need any levy or subsidy. Around the world they are already generating electricity cheaper than fossil fuel plants. Similarly, future stations in this country will have to be fully justified in commercial terms.

Nuclear power is here to stay — and that's good news for the environment.

Mark Baker

Executive Director, Nuclear Electric plc Barnett Way, Barnwood, Gloucester