Nuclear Power Advantages

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31086, 15 June 1966, Page 1

Nuclear Power Advantages

An engineer returned to Christchurch yesterday convinced of the great advantages of nuclear power for New Zealand. He is the technical sales engineer of C.W.F. Hamilton and Co., Ltd., (Mr J. O. Miller) who has spent six months studying nuclear plants in Britain. Mr Miller said that nuclear power had many favourable points. Lower running costs and small fuel bulk were but two of these. Another important one was the absence of ash or smoke problems. There had been no injuries In the United Kingdom plants. Mr Miller said Britain had more than half of the world’s nuclear power generating capacity, and had generated about two-thirds of the total units.

He spent six months with Fairey Engineering, Ltd., which is one of the leaders in nuclear power. The purpose at his visit was to become

familiar with these plants to enable C. W. F. Hamilton and Company, Ltd., to take part in New Zealand’s proposed programme.. Mr Miller said that one of the greatest potential advantages of nuclear power plants for New Zealand was that they were now considered possibilities in large cities and built-up areas both by United Kingdom and United States authorities.

While he was with Fairey Engineering, he took part in the formulation of the basic design of a small power reactor system of 20 to 60 megawatts. This size of station was considered to be of value as a country’s first plant. It would enable local knowledge to be obtained in the construction and running of bigger plants. “This project was very useful to me as I was able to learn principles applicable to any reactor system,” said Mr Miller.

He made many visits to the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority’s establishments. He talked with research workers and saw new fuel and uranium processing plants. The authority employed &

more than 3000 qualified engineers and scientists engaged in research, design and fuel handling, he said. It also operated many research and experimental reactors. The most notable of these was the Calder Hall Magnox reactor. Mr Miller said that the H

United Kingdom Government recently announced the approval of a prototype 250 megawatt (electrical) fast reactor that might involve £4O million.

Compared with coal and oil plants the fuel handling costs of nuclear power plants were very small. One ton of uranium type fuel generated 5000 to 10,000 megawatt days— Benmore, about full load for 10 days or about 100,000 tons of coal for the same energy. Mr Miller said that Fairey Engineering were represented in New Zealand by Hamilton's, which would assist with the manufacture and erection of nuclear plant in New Zealand.

Hamilton's wanted local content in nuclear plants that were likely in New Zealand within the next 10 years, said Mr Miller.

The general manager of C. W. F. Hamilton and Company Ltd. (Mr E. P. Chapman), who met Mr Miller at Harewood yesterday, said that it was “fairly obvious” that within the next few years the cost of nuclear power would fall below that of hydro-edectrial and conventional steam stations.