BNFL plans sale of US subsidiary

British Nuclear Fuels today confired controversial plans to sell a US-based subsidiary in a move likely to raise around £1bn (€1.5bn) for the UK taxpayer.

The sale of Westinghouse, the nuclear power station construction and services business, was announced as state-owned BNFL said it had cut losses before one-off items to £144m (€212m), from £283m (€417m) in the year to March 31, 2004.

The proposed sale process is likely to cause controversy as unions fear the disposal will rob the company of expertise at a time when the UK and other countries are considering building new nuclear power stations.

Prospect, a union representing 6,000 engineers, scientists and managers at Sellafield and the company’s 21 other sites, warned a break-up of BNFL would set back the nuclear industry in the UK “many years and many billions of pounds”.

BNFL, which operates the Sellafield waste reprocessing plant in Cumbria, said there had already been a number of approaches for Westinghouse, which it added was a prime asset with “all the skills to prosper in the private sector”.

Chief executive Mike Parker said: “Westinghouse is a very successful operation in its own right. It has reached all its targets, continues to win new business and is in an excellent position to capitalise on the China new build programme.”

He added the sale process would determine whether a disposal would realise appropriate value.

Dai Hudd, Prospect assistant general secretary, said it was “bizarre” that, just as nuclear power was rising up the agenda as the answer to crbon emissions, the UK should sell off its chief reservoir of new-build expertise.

He added: “It was this Labour government which approved the company’s strategy to purchase Westinghouse. It clearly recognised its importance to the future of the industry in the UK, not to realise a quick buck like any market speculator. This is short-termism at its worst.”