Written question asked by Lord Jenkin of Roding (Conservative), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Truscott (Labour) on Wednesday, 20 June 2007.

Energy: Magnox Decommissioning

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Why it was thought right to award the contract for the decommissioning of all 10 Magnox nuclear sites, with 22 reactors, to a single company, Energy Solutions of Salt Lake City, Utah; what is the estimated number of years for which this contract will run; and whether there will be opportunities for other decommissioning providers to bid for the later stages of this work.

Answer: In buying Reactor Sites Management Company Ltd from BNFL, after a competitive and rigorous process of pre-qualification against a testing set of criteria, Energy Solutions has also acquired the remainder of the subsidiary's contract with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority to operate and clean up the 10 Magnox sites. The contracts were signed by Magnox Electric Ltd and are one year in duration with an option to extend. We believe the sale to be in the best interests of the business, its staff and its customer—the NDA. As stated in the NDA's strategy, the Magnox sites will be split into two regions (north and south) and competed for. The competition for the southern region is already under way; the one for the northern region will commence in 2010. Other decommissioning providers will indeed be able to bid in these competitions.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 4228; 693 c54-5WA
Session: 2006-07
Subjects: Contracts Decommissioning Nuclear power stations Sales Magnox reactors Magnox Electric
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk