BRITAIN: Conservatives and the trade unions yesterday raised serious safety concerns about the proposed transfer by the British government of Sellafield to private sector control with the sell-off of British Nuclear Fuel's (BNFL) nuclear clean-up business, British Nuclear Group (BNG).
Conservative spokesman Alan Duncan said that "to dump 50 years of dubious waste on to the private sector, with none of the guarantees that only government can offer, needs serious public debate before they should think of going ahead."
The trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson yesterday confirmed the planned sale of BNG on the recommendation of state-controlled BNFL as part of a drive to create "a competitive market in decommissioning".
Mr Johnson said BNFL and BNG's main customer, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), would work closely to ensure the successful bidder was "the best available to improve performance, particularly at Sellafield". The NDA also revealed that decommissioning clean-up costs of Britain's nuclear power sites have escalated to more than £70 billion, against a previous estimate of £56 billion.
The announcement was criticised by Greenpeace. A spokesman said: "Every time the costs of cleaning up nuclear sites are looked at, the cost for the taxpayer spirals."
Mr Johnson said he firmly believed that a competitive sale was in BNFL's best commercial interest and represented BNG's best chance of successfully operating in the commercial market created by the Energy Act 2004.
"By bringing in external enterprise more quickly, it also contributes to improved clean-up performance for the NDA and is therefore good for the taxpayer," said Mr Johnson.
The government green light for the sale, expected to be completed by autumn 2007, was welcomed by Lawrie Haynes, chief executive of BNG, who said: "A strong British Nuclear Group means strong competition and that can only be good news for the NDA and the UK taxpayer. The stronger we are the better placed we are to deliver what I call 'Big V', that is the value we can create for UK taxpayers by reducing the overall lifetime bill for cleaning up the UK's nuclear legacy."
Mr Haynes said the right buyer "will enable us to complement our skills with theirs to create a powerful player in the global nuclear clean-up market and 'raise the bar' in terms of subsequent competitions."
He also welcomed the publication of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's strategy document confirming, amongst other things, that "a new owner will have the opportunity to continue to run the contract for managing and operating the Sellafield site until 2012, giving BNG a fantastic opportunity to deliver significant value for the customer over the lifetime of that contract."
Welcoming the government's approval of the NDA's strategy for the decommissioning and clean-up of its 20 civil nuclear sites, chief executive Dr Ian Roxburgh said: "We are confident that in the light of what we know today, our approved strategy provides the best approach - in terms of safety, cost efficiency and sustainability - to tackle the UK's historic 60-year nuclear legacy." And trade minister Barry Gardiner said: "The sale does not in any way affect responsibility for dealing with the nuclear waste, that remains with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority."
Condemning the proposed sell-off of BNG, the GMB union said: "Like Railtrack it will be dependent on public money, the private sector managers will look out for number one, and any corners cut could lead to a catastrophic mistake." The Amicus unionsaid it also opposed the sale. "We are also concerned that it could compromise the government's stated objective of decommissioning civil nuclear sites at a reduced cost to the taxpayer and a reduced timescale, while maintaining safety standards."