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33. Mr. Colvin : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what target he has set for the percentage of electricity to be generated by wind energy by the year 2000 in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Michael Spicer : No targets have been set for the year 2000. Renewable energy technologies are at an early stage of development and there is great uncertainty about future projections. Energy paper 55 estimated that by the year 2025 wind energy might provide up to the equivalent of 10 per cent. of current electricity requirements if the technology can be proven and applied commercially. It is Government policy to encourage the maximum exploitation of renewable energy sources wherever they have prospects of being economically viable and environmentally acceptable.
35. Mr. Franks : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has on the contribution made to the west Cumbrian economy by British Nuclear Fuels plc at Sellafield.
Mr. Michael Spicer : British Nuclear Fuels plc makes a major contribution to the economy of west Cumbria, and the capital investment programme for Sellafield will
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amount to some £4 billion by the end of the century. The company currently employs some 7,200 people at the site, while those employed there by contractors is expected to rise from the current level of some 6,000 to some 8,000 by 1991. In recent years, BNFL spent an average of £1 million a year on major schemes to help the local community. The company has recently committed itself to contribute £1 million a year over the next 10 years to a fund with local authorities and other local companies to promote new and expanding businesses in the area.48. Mr. Arbuthnot : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy if he will give the statistics for nuclear discharges into the Irish sea from the British Nuclear Fuels site at Sellafield for each of the last five years.
Mr. Michael Spicer : Discharges to the Irish sea from Sellafield between 1983 and 1987 (the latest year for which figures are currently available) were as follows :
|Alpha (terabecquerels)|Beta (terabecquerels) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1983 |14 |2,489 1984 |14 |1,190 1985 |6 |587 1986 |4.4 |118 1987 |2.2 |89
34. Mr. Marlow : To ask the Secretary of State for Energy what information he has regarding the likely growth of nuclear power generation worldwide over the next 15 years.
Mr. Michael Spicer : The Department of Energy does not forecast total world nuclear power generation ; but the IAEA has recently published a range of estimates to 2005. These are shown in the table :
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