Issues for the European Commission
Publication date: March 2004
Summary
After the collapse of the UK's only private nuclear operator, British Energy, in 2002, the Government agreed to bail out the company with a £650m loan facility on the condition that British Energy draw up a long term restructuring plan to claw its way out of trouble. British Energy's restructuring plan, supported by the Government and submitted to European Commission for approval, would entail up to £5bn of public funds being paid to BE over the next 10 years.
Greenpeace commissioned respected nuclear economist Gordon Mackerron of NERA Economic Consulting to assess whether or not certain parts of the package - namely the renegotiated fuel supply and spent fuel management contracts with BNFL - could be viewed as contracts that a creditor in the private market place would agree to. The report concludes that there are aspects of the contracts that are highly dubious, and ends by providing some suggested areas of interest for the EC that indicate the contracts were not the act of two private creditors, but are in fact a deal concocted with the help of the British Government intended to bailout not just British Energy, but the complete failure that is the UK nuclear industry.
