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BFNL: Sale of Assets

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Pat McFadden) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. Further to my right honourable friend the previous Secretary of State’s announcement on 16 July 2007 (Official Report, col. 1WS) regarding the planned sale by British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) of its one-third stake in Atomic Weapons Establishment Management Limited (AWEML), I can confirm that agreement was reached on 17 December 2008 to sell the one-third stake to a UK subsidiary of the Jacobs Engineering Group, subject to clearance under EU merger control requirements. The terms of the deal remain commercially sensitive. Jacobs is already working as a key strategic partner to AWEML and its acquisition of BNFL’s one-third stake followed a competitive process conducted by BNFL in close consultation with BERR and the Ministry of Defence (MoD). HMG are satisfied that the sale of BNFL’s one-third stake to Jacobs achieves the dual objective of maximising shareholder return from the stake while ensuring that a strong AWEML consortium is in place under government owned contractor operated arrangements to manage the enduring performance of AWEML’s subsidiary, AWE plc, which is responsible for the day-to-day operation of AWE itself and for meeting the requirements of the customer, the MoD. The MoD is satisfied that Jacobs meets the relevant security requirements. Strategic requirements and the UK deterrent programme are set by the UK Government. UK nuclear forces will remain fully operationally independent; decision-making and the use of the system remains entirely sovereign to the UK. All AWE sites and assets remain in government ownership, as they have done since AWE was first contractorised in 1993. The MoD continues to hold a special share in AWE plc, which would allow the MoD to assume control of AWE plc, should that become necessary.