Labour's £10bn nuclear sell-off-US Firms tipped to Bid for Sellafield

[buzzsaw_23]

Labour's £10bn nuclear sell-off

US firms tipped to bid for Sellafield

Terry Macalister
Friday September 30, 2005
The Guardian


Operations at Sellafield and other major nuclear plants such as Sizewell and Dungeness are to be sold off to the private sector for more than £10bn under plans drawn up yesterday by the board of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL).

American companies such as Halliburton and Fluor are seen as likely contenders in any race to take over British Nuclear Group, which is the main operating arm of the government-owned BNFL, handling nuclear generation, reprocessing and clean-up businesses. The transfer of key operations out of state hands at a time when Britain is facing an energy shortfall will generate surprise, particularly with North Sea oil and gas running down and the government edging towards a decision to proceed with a new generation of nuclear reactors. But a sell-off is likely to be approved by the government when Gordon Brown is struggling to fund his spending commitments.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,2763,1581783,00.html

[necso]

1. Oh boy,

privatisation of energy, nuclear matters... and national security.

Great idea.

[Nihil]

2. Shit.

> The transfer of key operations out of state hands at a time when
> Britain is facing an energy shortfall will generate surprise,
> particularly with North Sea oil and gas running down and the
> government edging towards a decision to proceed with a new generation
> of nuclear reactors.

"Surprise"? WTF?

The price of oil & gas is about to take off, we already import
electricity from France (nuclear generated at that) and Brown wants
to give away the remaining nuclear industry to fucking Halliburton
for a bargain basement price?! Surprise?

> But a sell-off is likely to be approved by the government when Gordon
> Brown is struggling to fund his spending commitments.

Stop the war and save the £10B without putting the country's future
into the greedy hands of those thieves.

Fuck off Tony, fuck off Gordon and take the rest of you fake Britons
with you to Carlyle *before* you screw the country up even more.

[ikri]

3. Because privately run Nuclear power

Run at the lowest possible price always works out so well.

:eyes:

I do support the extended use of nuclear power, but it will never be safe, or have full public approval, unless the power stations are run with safety - not profit - as the top priority.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Hang on - this story doesn't make sense

British Nuclear Group is in charge of decommisioning plants:

British Nuclear Group is a specialist site management and nuclear clean-up business, employing around 15,000 people. Part of the BNFL Group, our strategy and focus is clear - to deliver accelerated nuclear clean-up programmes, safely and cost-effectively for our customers in the UK and overseas. Our company is founded on a proud track record of applying in-depth experience to complex nuclear challenges. The end result will be a safe environment, both now and for future generations.

http://www.britishnucleargroup.com/section.php?pageID=21

The Guardian says: "BNG runs a dozen atomic sites, some with relatively new reactors such as Sizewell B in Suffolk", but according to the DTI, Sizewell B is run by British Energy, along with the AGRs which are expected to last between 2008 and 2023. BNG has the magnox reactors, all meant to be ending by 2010. British Energy is the privatised company the government had to bail out (gee, who would have guessed), though apparently it's doing nicely for the shareholders a year later: Sky-high power prices give British Energy a boost - it's at over twice the privatised price now.

So, I think the Guardian has reported this badly. What we seem to be looking at it entrusting nuclear clean-up to Halliburton. :scared: