MEDIA RELEASE

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DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER VISITS FRENCH NUCLEAR INSTALLATIONS

The Deputy Prime Minister, Mr. Anthony,  spent yesterday (Tuesday)  visiting nuclear installations in southern France including the French  Atomic Energy Commission's waste vitrification plant at Marcoule.

The plant has just completed its first month of full scale  operation after fifteen years of vitrification research and nine years  of operation on a pilot scale.

Mr. Anthony also saw the Phoenix fast breeder reactor at  Marcoule and the' EUrodisa. uranium enrichment plant at Tricastin which  will have sufficient capacity to supply fuel to 100 nuclear power  stations. .  .  .

Afterwards, he said France could be producing sixty per cent  of its electricity in nuclear power stations by 1985 and as much as  eighty per cent by 1990. This would mean the building of the equivalent  of sixty five 1000 megawatt power stations. .  '

Mr. Anthony said France had 25 nuclear power stations under  construct ion;; to come into service at the rate of five a year. No new  oil on-coal JLirpd power- stations would be built. .

He said the Tricastin enrichment plant - a multi-nation venture  involving France, Italy, Belgium and Spain - was the biggest project  of any kind under construction in Europe involving 20,000 people  directly or indirectly. '.

Mr. Anthony said he had heard of a curious statement on M 0nday  by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Bowen, about disposal of  waste from the enrichment process.

"There is no significant waste from an enrichment plant," Mr. Anthony said.

"The.depleted_uranium left after enrichment poses no storage  problems. I would think many centres in Australia would welcome the  great economic benefits of an enrichment plant and in fact I have had  several such approaches from local authorities."

Mr. Anthony said the Marcoule vitrification plant in ten days  has solidified in 1*5 cubic metres of glass,the total high level radio  active waste of a year's operation by a nuclear power station.

He said that it was clear from his discussions in France and  Finland, and from the recent Bonn Summit, that there was a massive and  irrevocable commitment to nuclear power generation and Australia had  an obligation to involve itself in this commitment in a responsible  way. .  .

Paris, France, ’

26th. July, 1978.

(Released through Mr. Anthony's Canberra office)

