British Nuclear Industry in Meltdown

national | miscellaneous | news report

Friday September 06, 2002 11:12

by Graham Caswell

caswell at indigo dot ie

Financial collpase follows safety scandals

Last night, British Energy, which runs eight nuclear power stations in the UK, warned that it faced insolvency unless immediate financial help was found (doublespeak for government subsidy).

Last night, British Energy, which runs eight nuclear power stations in the UK, warned that it faced insolvency unless immediate financial help was found.

The company, which was privatised in 1996, lost £518m last year and is heavily in debt.

David Porter of the Association of Electricity Producers told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that..."British Energy has responded to this quite magnificently by cutting its costs over the last few years," he said. Cost-cutting was behind the Bhopal disaster and other massive technology failures.

British Energy's difficulties follow last week's revelations of safety data by BNFL's largest customer for it's Sellafield MOX business.

Decommissioning and long term storage of nuclear waste makes nuclear power by far the most expensive source of electrical power ever invented.

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JOB AXE FEAR FOR 5200 NUCLEAR WORKERS

Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:14

[From Glasgow Record - no link]

A CRISIS at nuclear power giant British Energy last night put 5200 highly skilled workers' jobs at risk - 1000 in Scotland.

The electricity generator warned the company could collapse unless it is thrown a multi- million pound cash lifeline by the Government.

A British Energy spokesman said: "The company may be unable to meet its financial obligations as they fall due and, therefore, the company may have to take appropriate insolvency proceedings."

British Energy employs about 1000 people at its three Scots operations - the nuclear power stations at Hunterston in Ayrshire and Torness in East Lothian, and an HQ office at East Kilbride.

It has a eight nuclear stations in the UK with a total workforce of 5200.

The group was set up and privatised in 1996 to run Britain's nuclear generating programme.

But it has total debts of about £450million - and the price it gets for its electricity has fallen by a quarter in the last 18 months after a new trading agreement led to price cuts.

Last night, a spokesman at the Department of Trade and Industry confirmed rescue talks had already taken place but warned the Goverment may be unable to intervene.

He said: "Any support provided by Government would need to be within the scope of the EC rules on state aid."

The news comes a month after £160million was wiped off the group's share value in one day when it was disclosed that Torness needed major repairs after problems had forced it to be shut down.

Nuclear plant 'may have design flaws'

Fri Sep 06, 2002 11:16

[From BBC Online - can't find the link]

Torness nuclear power station should remain closed indefinitely, according to the Scottish Green Party.
The building in East Lothian, which stopped producing electricity more than three weeks ago, may have design flaws, it is claimed.

Operator British Energy, which has entered urgent talks with the government to avoid financial collapse, has called a special meeting of the local liaison committee on Friday. The company provides half of Scotland's electricity.

It will not say when either of the two reactors, which were shut down because of problems in the cooling systems, may start up again.

The committee, which includes local councillors, will be briefed on the latest situation.

Reactor 1 was closed down automatically last month due to vibrations in the gas circulation system, which cools the reactors.

A second reactor has been out of action since May because of a similar problem.

British Energy said there was no "incident" in either case and no escape of radiation at the plant, which accounts for about 12% of its annual energy output.

There are 450 people employed at Torness, which usually produces 1,200 megawatts of electricity if both reactors are in use.

The Scottish Greens believe that compromises during the construction of the plant may have led to a basic design fault.

The party said it had obtained information indicating that the big fans inside the reactor cooling system were made from forged metal rather than cast metal, which is apparently used in other nuclear stations.

It said this was because no supplier could reach the stringent safety requirements for the cast components.

MSP Robin Harper said concerns that the new material used may be susceptible to vibrations were raised at the time even though it passed safety tests.

British Energy, which also runs the Hunterston plant in Ayrshire, has asked for government cash to save it from insolvency.

The company has experienced financial problems because of falling wholesale electricity prices and made a loss of £500m in its latest financial year.

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British Nuclear Industry in Meltdown

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