Joint Company For Heavy Water Scheme

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27591, 23 February 1955, Page 11

Joint Company For Heavy Water Scheme

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

LONDON, February 21. Britain’s Atomic Energy Authority announced tonight the incorporation of a company in which the New Zealand Government and the authority are the sole shareholders. Known as Geothermal Development, Ltd., it is a joint enterprise to build a factory and later produce heavy water and electric power from geothermal steam in the Wairakei district of the North Island. The company will have a nominal and paid-up capital of £30,000. One third will be provided by the authority, and the rest of the capital requirements will be provided by loan. The directors are: For the authority: Sir Donald Perrott, member for finance and administration of the authority, and Mr R. A. S. White, head of the chemical engineering division of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell. For the New Zealand Government: Mr B. C. Ashwin, Secretary of the Treasury; Mr C. W. C. Turner, en-gineer-in-chief, Ministry of Works; and Mr A. E. Davenport, general manager of the State Hydro-Electric Department. The announcement says that the production of heavy water is planned to begin late in 1957 and electric power a few months later. Loans for the heavy water plant, estimated at £2,000,000 will come from the authority, and the loan for electric power equipment, estimated at £4,000,000, will come from the New Zealand Government. The initial plant will produce electric power at the rate of about 40,000 kilowatts and a “useful tonnage” of heavy water for nuclear power reactors. The Atomic Energy Authority has undertaken to buy the whole of the heavy water output, and New Zealand all the electricity. Mr Ashwin will be the chairman of directors of the new company. In addition to the five directors, it is proposed that Dr. E. Marsden will be associated with the board so that his technical knowledge will be available to the company. He recently retired from the position of New Zealand scientific liaison officer in London. A Press Association message from Wellington quotes the Minister of Finance (Mr J. T. Watts) as saying that it was not expected that the two British directors would attend every meeting of the board and arrangements had been made so that they

could be represented by resident deputies. “I feel I should make it clear that although the company has just been incorporated, work has already commenced,” said the Minister. “At Wairakei, • boring and development work are proceeding apace, and invitations to tender for the steam turbo-alternators have been advertised. The technical consultants are proceeding with the work of designing the plant so that the preliminary work for this project is already under way.

“I am sure every New Zealander will wish the company success in the work it is to undertake,” said Mr Watts.