Commission for nuclear hearing

Press, 24 August 1976, Page 3

Commission for nuclear hearing

PA Wellington Sir Thaddeus McCarthy, a former judge and president of the Court of Appeal, is to be chairman of the Royal Commission on Nuclear Power Generation in New Zealand.

The commission, which will report by December 31 next year, will have as its other members Dr lan Blair, Mrs Vivienne Boyd, Mr Lyn Randerson and Professor Bruce Liley. Its terms of reference are: “To inquire into and report to the Government upon the likely consequences of a nuclear power programme. In so doing the commission will consider such matters as siting, licensing, inspection, environmental effects, safety factors, transport of fuel and waste, disposal of waste, and any other matters which the commission decides should be brought to the attention of the Government.”

Announcing the composition of the commission yesterday, the Minister of Energy Reserves (Mr Holland) said the main hearing would be in Wellington, with supplementary hearings in Auckland and Christchurch. Details of the working of the commission, including the right of crossexamination, would be announced by the chairman when he had had time to make the necess y adminis- | trative arrangements and dis-

cuss the procedures with other members. Dr Blair is a former reader in microbiology at Lincoln College and has international standing in the field of plant pathology. , He is a trustee of the National Library, a Guardian of Lake Wanaka and a member of the water pollution committee of the Acclimatisation Societies.

Mrs Boyd is a member of the Committee on Women, vice-president of the National Council of Women, and a member of the Consumer Council and of the Council for Equal Pay and Opportunity. She is also vicepresident of the Wellington association of Baptist Churches. Mr Randerson is a director of Computer Bureau Holdings, Ltd, Marac Holdings, Ltd and the Aurora Group, Ltd. He is a former generalmanager of the A.A. Mutual Insurance Company. Professor Lilev is professor of physics at Waikato University and a fellow of the Institute of Physics. He is also chairman of the Royal Society of New Zealand national committee on pure and applied physics and chairman of the Institute of Physics education subcommittee.