Energy Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
On a point of order, Mr. O'Brien. I would like to respond to a point made by the hon. Member for Lewes (Norman Baker) before the break. He suggested that there is an inconsistency between what I said on Thursday and what I have said today. I am pleased to reassure him that there is no inconsistency between the two points.
I made it clear last week that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will be able to run only nuclear power stations pending decommissioning. I made that point again today, and as I said, that will be the Magnox situation. The NDA will also operate thermal oxide reprocessing plant—THORP—and the Sellafield mixed oxide—MOX—plant for operational reasons, but those are not nuclear-generating stations, so there is no inconsistency between the points that I made this morning and those I made last week. If the hon. Gentleman looks again, he will, I hope, be satisfied on that point.