Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Government to sell British Nuclear Group

Charlotte Moore and agencies
Thursday March 30, 2006


The government today said it would sell British Nuclear Group, meaning the Sellafield nuclear complex will pass into the private sector.
State-run British Nuclear Fuels Ltd currently runs BNG, a specialist clean-up unit that also operates the Sellafield reprocessing plant.

BNG's main customer is the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which has responsibility for all civil public sector nuclear liabilities.

The NDA said BNG's new owner would be allowed to operate Sellafield, in Cumbria, until 2012.


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The plant was recently criticised by the European commission, who said it was failing to reach EU standards and needed to improve accounting and reporting controls.
Sellafield can reprocess 5,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel a year - around one-third of annual world production.

Analysts told Reuters BNFL could expect bids of around £1bn for BNG, with US companies such as Halliburton and the Washington Group possible contenders. The British engineering firm Amec has also been cited as a potential buyer.

Today's announcement confirmed plans laid out in last week's budget, and the government is also likely to sell its 33% share of Urenco, a uranium-enrichment business owned jointly with the Dutch and German governments.

"I firmly believe that a competitive sale is in the BNFL's best commercial interests and represents BNG's best chance of operating successfully in the commercial market," Alan Johnson, the secretary for Trade and Industry, told Reuters.

The NDA said the cost of decommissioning Britain's ageing nuclear power plants could be around £70bn - around £14bn more than previously anticipated.

"We have said we now estimate the cost to be about £63bn and there is potential for a further £7.5bn due issues like contaminated land," a spokesman told Reuters.





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