Mr Bolger avoids nuclear power stance

Press, 22 May 1986, Page 4

Mr Bolger avoids nuclear power stance

PA Wellington Power plants in nuclear-powered ships are a fraction of the size of the plant which exploded at Chernobyl, said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Bolger, yesterday. He was asked at a press conference whether he would find difficulty convincing New Zealanders of the safety of visiting nuclear-powered ships after the Chernobyl disaster.

Emphasising the fact that he was speaking as a layman, Mr Bolger said power plants in nuclearpowered ships were a fraction of the size of the plant which exploded at Chernobyl. “They are constructed differently and they do have different configurations,” he said. Mr Bolger was reluctant

to repeat remarks he made at a pre-Chernobyl press conference concerning prospective nuclearpowered ship visits from Western alliance navies.

Earlier this year he said a future National Government would allow nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed vessels, in line with National Party policy, to visit New Zealand ports. Mr Bolger yesterday avoided a direct restatement of this position. He said the whole question of nuclear power had been given a new focus by the Chernobyl disaster.

“However, the focus should properly be on why that plant proved defective and why control measures in the Soviet Union were so defective,” Mr Bolger said.