British Nuclear Group
Contents
Background
Formerly know as the British Nuclear Fuels Limited.
Richard Nathan - Energy Unit at BNFL
Director of Group Corporate Affairs at BNFL Philip Dewhurst was Weber Shandwick Worldwide UK chief executive
Sell Off
In February 2006, BNFL sold its US nuclear clean-up division, BNG America, for £51m ($91m) to the Utah-based company Energy Solutions.
The deal quickly followed BNFL's sale of its U.S. power plant arm Westinghouse to the Japanese electronic giant Toshiba.
Toshiba has won the $5.4bn (£3.1bn) auction for British Nuclear Fuels' Westinghouse Electric subsidiary, the US-based nuclear engineering group which controls Britain's only nuclear fuel manufacturing site, Springfield Fuels.
The Japanese company plans to sell on as much as 49% of Westinghouse to minority investors, although president and chief executive officer Atsutoshi Nishida made it clear Toshiba will retain a controlling interest of at least 51%.
BNFL's ultimate plan is said to include selling off the British Nuclear Group, leaving it with a stake in the uranium-enrichment firm Urenco and research firm Nexia Solutions. A decision will be taken at the end of March by Ministers. [1] [2]
Closing Down the Debate
Documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that BNFL "wants to restrict the scope of local planning inquiries", according to The Guardian newspaper. Issues such as safety, security and environmental impact would not be discussed at public inquiries, as happens now, but behind closed doors.
The documemts show that BNFL believes the only way to guarantee that new power stations open on schedule is to fast-track the planning process by pre-licensing reactors before sites are selected. "Investment in this phase has immense leverage over subsequent phases" say the documents. "For example, it should enable a public inquiry to be assured that all safety and environmental issues have been satisfactorily addressed, enabling it to focus on local issues." [3]
PR and lobbying firms
Pro-Nuke Media Training
In June Belinda
