Written question asked by Baroness Berger (Labour) on Wednesday, 23 March 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 28 March 2011. It was answered by Charles Hendry (Conservative) on Tuesday, 29 March 2011 on behalf of the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Urenco

Question: (3) what meetings (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department have held with trade unions representing UK nationals employed by Urenco; and what steps have been taken to inform UK-based employees of Urenco of the decision to sell the UK's shareholding;

Answer: I have been asked to reply.The Government are currently undertaking a full analysis of its options with regard to the UK's stake in Urenco and no final decisions have yet been made.The Government do not give out information on expected proceeds from individual asset sales. To do so would prejudice the Government's commercial position in ongoing and future sale processes. However, any change in the present ownership arrangements will be subject to securing value for money for the tax payer as well as meeting non-proliferation and other policy objectives.The UK remains fully committed to upholding nuclear non-proliferation, safety and security principles. Should we decide to proceed with a sale, any restrictions on potential purchasers of shares in the company would be dependent on our assessment of the risk posed to our non-proliferation and other policy interests.Neither Ministers or officials have had any discussions with the UK-based employees of Urenco or their trade union representatives on the implications of a potential sale. Any such discussions would be premature at this stage and would in any case be for the company's management to undertake.Urenco provides enrichment services to civil nuclear utilities worldwide and the provision to customers in the UK represents only a very small proportion of its business. The Government's review of the UK's nuclear strategy is expected to have little, if any, impact on Urenco's business.

Secondary information