BNFL breaks up further

Wednesday, 7 February 2007 BNFL has commenced the sale of its specialist nuclear decommissioning business, British Nuclear Group Project Services (BNGPS).

The concern employs over 730 workers with extensive technical waste and decommissioning expertise in the nuclear and hazardous waste industries. BNGPS has many contracts at civil nuclear sites in the UK, including significant involvement at Magnox nuclear power plants and the Sellafield site, Europe's largest. It performs that work as a contractor for the sites' owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which in future will put such work out to competitive tender.

BNGPS's Ben Todd told WNN the company is "A hard one to value, but a great unit for sale." It holds no licenses, has no regulatory issues and consists mainly of ready-trained nuclear experts, complete with a business support units. Todd added: "The price would be purely up to the market, and the value of the skill set and experience set against each bidder's own ambitions in the decommissioning marketplace."

A BNFL statement said that BNGPS also has a "strategic foothold" supporting the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) to develop its framework to safely decommission the Russian navy's nuclear fleet.

In addition, BNGPS works in partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on projects in Eastern Europe such as the Project Management Unit at Kozloduy, Bulgaria. That unit is responsible for the design, program management and implementation of decommissioning strategies for nuclear facilities.

Todd told WNN that the sale could be fast, in line with government policy to dispatch its nuclear assets to create a new industry in line with its new energy policy, due this summer.

Further information

BNFL
British Nuclear Group