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16 May 2001
Friends of the Earth said today that nuclear energy “remains wholly uneconomic”, after news that British Energy's latest annual profits have dropped to an all time low of just £10m.The results follow record losses of £337M reported by the state owned British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) last September.
British Energy operates Britain's eight privatised nuclear power plants, and was finally floated in 1996 following the abandonment of similar plans in 1989. The eight stations were sold together for the knock-down price of just £1.5 billion. This is significantly less than the£2.6 billion construction cost of the Sizewell B reactor in Suffolk - one of the eight stations sold - which had been completed only a year before the sale.
Mark Johnston, Energy Analyst at Friends of the Earth said:
“The privatised nuclear industry still cannot make a reasonable
profit, even after effectively getting eight nuclear power stations for
less than the price of one.Today's results show that, while existing reactors
can just about continue to survive, no one in their right mind would sink
billions of pounds into new nuclear generating plant.
“Today's results should be a lesson for the Government which will
have to face down requests from BNFL to subsidise new UK nuclear power
plants to deal with Britain's growing stockpile of plutonium waste. BNFL
is believed to be planning new nuclear power stations within its draft
Corporate Plan but the Government is refusing to publish this to avoid
embarrassment during the Election campaign. Friends of the Earth will
vigorously fight any call to subsidise new nuclear power stations.”
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
Media team
