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Nuclear Power Stations

Volume 456: debated on Tuesday 6 February 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimate of the number of new nuclear power stations likely to be built in the near future was carried out prior to the sale of Westinghouse Engineering. (116996)

None. We considered the matter carefully before agreeing to a sale. We did not believe that ownership of Westinghouse would be likely to have any bearing on the UK’s ability to satisfy any future nuclear energy needs. In the event of a new build programme we would want the private sector, most likely the existing generators, to take the lead in funding and purchasing any new generation of reactors untainted by whether the technology was Government owned.