asked the Secretary of State for Energy what is his latest estimate of the cost per therm of generating electricity through nuclear energy.

Generation costs for nuclear power stations in operation, on historic costs, are given in the 1980–81 annual report of the Central Electricity Generating Board: they are 1·65 p/kwh for Magnox stations and 1·45 p/kwh for the AGR. These convert to 48·34 p/therm for Magnox and 41·04 p/therm for the AGR. These costs do not provide the basis for a direct comparison with the cost of other fuels or for an appriasal of the cost of nuclear electricity from new investment.