Against Nuclear Power Stations

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30965, 22 January 1966, Page 3

Against Nuclear Power Stations

(N.Z. Press Association) WELLINGTON, January 21. A nuclear power station would not be an economic proposition for New Zealand because of its cost in overseas funds, according to the general manager of the Electricity Department (Mr E. B. Mackenzie).

A nuclear station would require at least £1.75m of overseas funds a year for the purchase of fuel, plus the high

cost of shipping the irradiated fuel back to a treatment station for reprocessing, he said. A Hutt county councillor, Cr. R. D. J. Barnes, said on Wednesday that a nuclear plant would be cheaper than a coal-fired one in the long run. Mr Mackenzie said that no decision had been made or was likely to be made for some time on a coal-fired station, as the electricity from such a station would not be required till about 1973. Mr Mackenzie told the Hutt County Council that the department would not know tall it got a consultant’s report several months from now which site was best, or even if a power station should be built at all. The department, he said, was assembling facts about a number of possible ..sites. The cost of a station was about the same wherever it was. In 1963 stations similar

- to that under consideration t cost in England between £5O • and £6O a kilowatt. The cost in New Zealand would be , higher, but till the site studies i were complete no accurate r assessment was possible. i If the station was in the ; Buller district the cost of building the transmission line > would be about £lBm. • The annual servicing • charges on this expenditure ■ would be at least £1.35m in i addition to the value of the ■ loss in transmission, which wo- Id be about 8 or 9 per t cent.

Mr Mackenzie said that coal i could be carried by ship, but hydro-electricity had to be transported by transmission line. If the costs were competitive, it was better to save the transmission lines for water power. Nuclear power stations, which did not cost much to build but cost a lot to run, were favoured in countries where private companies supplied electricity, because running costs were tax deductible, while loan repayments were not.