COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL NO NUCLEAR DECISION TILL ENERGY SURVEY COMPLETED

Press, Volume CXV, Issue 34037, 29 December 1975, Page 12

COMMENT FROM THE CAPITAL NO NUCLEAR DECISION TILL ENERGY SURVEY COMPLETED

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CEDRIC MENTIPLAY)

Investigations into energy resources must be completed and - ordinated policy on energy’ must be contrived before any decision is on when and where New Zealand’s first nuclear power station may be established. The new Minister of Energy Resources. Electricity and Mme- ( Holland) has confirmed that there is no firm schedule for introdib I nuclear power.

When I asked him. “Di (you confirm that it is a con tinuing plan to keep right u; (with nuclear development [knowing that when we de I require it we can get the (most up-to-date equipment?’ ■he answered: “It is ‘if’ rathet [than ‘when’ we require it. 4 (report in a weekly news, (paper that preliminary wort (on the plant has begun is (simply not correct. There has [been no preliminary work I We are simply keeping up with nuclear development We would be very foolish il we did not know what was going on.” ; Mr Holland agreed that at i the moment there did noi (seem to be much alternative ; to the eventual use ol ■ nuclear power. “But we ; thought this in 1968, anc I along came Maui, putting it (out of our minds for another 110 years. Who knows what [will come along in the next 1 decade. ( "We have undertaken to (have an inquiry into all this. (And we shall honour that I promise.’’ j Mr Holland, aged 54. is the ■ elder son of the late Sir Sid(ney Holland. He was educated at Elmwood School. St I Andrew’s College. and Canterbury University. He (qualified as an accountant. His war service included . three years in the Pacific and Italy, during which he was mentioned in dispatches. In the National Party he has i been a member of the Dominion executive and the DominI ion council, as well as chair- ■ man of the Fendalton electorate and the CanterburyWestland division of the (party. Eric Holland was elected 1 to Parliament in April, 1967, after the death of Mr H. R. Lake. Boundary changes ! caused a renaming of elector- ! ates, and he has been member for Riccarton since 1969. ■ He has been a member of 1 the Parliamentary select (committee on labour matters .since 1967. and was its chairman in 1970 and 1971. He has also been a member of the Statutes Revision Comjmittee and the special com- ■ mittees on Lake Manapouri, '.women’s rights, and the (Woodhouse (accident comipensation) report. In the last National Government he was Minister of (Housing, Minister in charge (of the State Advances Corporation, and Associate Minister of Labour. Since July. 1972. he has been Opposition spokesman for energy resources and elec- ■ tricity. New Ministry The new portfolio of (energy resources has been [above party politics. In its; I last year, the Marshall Gov-! 'eminent passed the Energy; Resources Act, and the! Ministry of Fuel and Power' .was born. There was some

to progress in what remained c t- 1972 to set up the depart ;p ment. and then the Labor t. Government took over filo! three years. le “It has gradually bee ’’’(expanded, mainly as a plar ?r[ning or umbrella Ministry t A take care of the growin s-' energy resources pre k gramme.” Mr Holland saic is, “We passed the legislatiot is;but it barely got oft th 1.1 ground before we wer pl defeated." t. Eric Holland is mildly cn if tical of Labour’s failure t is i produce a co-ordinated energ [policy in the last three year: it; "This is our main probler it lat the moment,” he told nit e;"We want the sort of polic; that takes account of all th e. energy resources and poten h rial energy fields we have if It is the function of the Mini r stry of Energy Resources t; it (produce such a plan. : L ■'•Frankly, one would hav; (thought that in the light o ojthe oil crisis this would havi ’■'been treated as a matter o lt urgency. 1 think it. is some thing we ought to try ant e achieve in the first year o ’’ this Government. We must a '■ least get the fundamental: , down.” d„. . . e Priorities " He explained that tn hi: j(three portfolios all sources o j energy were concentrated it s jone office. “We have electric qity and we have mines, which s ;of course, includes not onb ’(coal but all other forms o Jmining. including petroleun .'(exploration. So we have natu ’(ral gas from Kapunt anc ' Maui, as well as manu factored gas. j “It is a matter of assemb, ’ ling all these pieces so that ,’ they notch in and we get one g over-all policy. There is nc . room, in this emergency, fot . competition between riva 1 forms in a commercial way.’ f Asked about the introduct tion of nuclear energy. Mt s Holland said: “That is one ol . the problems; but not the 2 most urgent one by any fimeansT'. .. He nominated as the most -(urgent problems in the elec,(tricity field the decisions on jithe power stations that have -Ito be built in the near future: the Auckland No. 1 thermal -(station and the work on the fjClutha. ? “On the Clutha the deci- - (sion has been made by the ?! Labour Government. We have ? given an undertaking to have Ua look at the height of the r'|DG7 dam near Cromwell. We -(are going to do that very (soon, early in the. New Year. “About the Auckland No. 1 (thermal, the decision is F:simply on where to put it. We i (shall have to make this decii sion; but a lot of investiga■tion work is being done by dthe department. Until this is :|completed we will not be in ■<a position to make a deci- ! sion.

ofi Mr Holland made the point rt-'that the increase in oil ur prices affected all previ, .« ot’ decisions. “One of the thing it did was make us have ; en second look at some of the ,n ’ proieets which may not ha\t 0 been economic before On the development f j’ geothermal steam Mr H ■ in land was non-committal kg'do not know whethet \ re would call that economic but it certainly encouraged n . greater use of all fonns of to resources " [Only a few cear* ago th« ’s Power Planning Commute j' n was talking about phasing ie (out Wairakei and discontinued mg investigation into other ide 'geothermal prospects 1 n . He was enthusiastic ab • e the value of solar heat gene jj. rating systems "The man to problem of solar power at present is the capital cost ,e of installing it. relative to of what people can buy elect ri /ejcity from the normal grid ' of| Asked whether the e- (recently -announced increase idlin bulk powei costs would oflhave increased the appeal of at’solar power. Mr Holland said lsi“lt is doing the same as the increase in oil price:—chang ing the emphasis. For exam pie. once Maui comes ■: ■s stream tn 1978—and even (’'.now. with the amount of ■ n (natural gas flowing around ‘■(the North Island—it might i make people consider agio whether they put ma: 3 *(or electric stove m i [j Bottled gas J ’! On the proposal to use gas in the Blenheim it jarea instead of the estab ie jlished central gas-production , o |centre and pipeline. Mr Hoi)r;land said there were some j] ( problems, such as pricing “(distribution, and the matter >|of getting customers. Ir‘ “I am not well et jf acquainted with this problem ie to comment." the Minister y said. "I have promised tlv new member for Marlborough it (Mr E. l.attai that 1 will C-lover and talk with him and nithe local people early in the e New Year." ?:[ Eric Holland expects a tl'busy summer As well as ejthese promised trips, there are others, including the i-(dropping into position r.' tire elMaui oil rig off the Taranaki e coast, and a visit tn the Gin ejmar Tasman drill-ship m e Hawke Bay e y