UK nuclear firm BNFL has reached an agreement to sell the entire share capital of its Reactor Sites Management Company (RSMC) to US-based EnergySolutions.
The sale includes Magnox Electric which holds the contracts and licences to operate 10 nuclear reactor sites in the UK on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the government body responsible for the clean up and decommissioning of the UK nuclear sites previously under the ownership of BNFL. The proposed acquisition is the result of a competitive process announced in December last.
“This opportunity reaffirms our commitment to being a world-wide provider of nuclear services and technology,” said Steve Creamer, chief executive of EnergySolutions.
The Prospect engineering union welcomed the move with Prospect National Secretary Mike Graham saying: “We recognise that EnergySolutions has to date a good track record in both safety and employment relations in the US” but warned: “This will be a testing contract for the company, not least because they will be operating in a different culture, with a different regulatory regime and one of the most effectively organised union sectors in western Europe.” Graham added that the union is looking for commitment from the company that they will be also be actively involved in supporting any nuclear new build within the UK.
Rothschild acted as financial adviser to BNFL, with legal advice provided by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer.
Related ArticlesDraft waste recommendation for the UK UK probably to dispose of waste by 2106 UK announces deep disposal plan UK outlines early plans for £12 billion repository Lords “astonished” by UK nuclear strategy
