Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant

The European Commission is expected to begin an investigation on December 1st into whether the UK will contravene European competition rules through establishing the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

On 1st April 2005 all of British Nuclear Fuel's (BNFL's) assets - including reprocessing and fuel fabrication plants, the Magnox reactors (and the Drigg radioactive waste dump) - are due to be transferred to the ownership of the NDA.

It is the transfer of assets from BNFL to the NDA, and how commercial operations may be helped by state aid, which will be main focus of the EC investigation.

Last year Greenpeace first challenged the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) over the possible state aid implications of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. In May, Greenpeace presented a legal opinion to the Commission, which argued that the NDA could not be established or operate without prior EC approval, because it breaks EC rules which prevent governments providing state aid to industries under competition laws. For example, the provision of state aid by the NDA might disadvantage competitor nuclear companies in Belgium and France.

Since May another major problem with the NDA has emerged. Even though when it was originally proposed the Government claimed the NDA's focus would be "squarely on [dealing with] the nuclear legacy", it has since emerged that the Authority will face a conflict of interest, as it will itself be partly dependent on revenue generated by plants that generate nuclear waste.

The government's spending review of 2004 states that half of the NDA's annual budget of £bn is planned to come from commercial activities such as:

• Reprocessing at the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing and Magnox plants at Sellafield;
• Operating the loss-making Magnox reactors; and
• Possibly operating the controversial Mixed Oxide (MOX) plant at Sellafield

It is not clear exactly how the Competition Commission will structure its investigation, but it is known some key facilities will come under special scrutiny. For example, the commissioning and operation of the controversial Mixed Oxide Fuel plant - which has cost an estimated £00m but which has not yet produced one consignment of fuel - will be investigated in order to establish if state aid will be used to support the plant's operations

It is expected the inquiry will take between 9-12 months. In the meantime the NDA will be funded from the Nuclear Liabilities Investment Plan. The EC will not be investigating the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, which runs sites such as Dounreay. This is because the UKAEA is now purely a decommissioning and clean up company.

For more information contact Jean McSorley Greenpeace nuclear campaigner on 07801 212959 or Pete Roche on 07 821 378 210.

A wind turbine under construction

The growing offshore wind power industry could bring up to 76,000 new jobs to the UK with up to 38,000 of them in the North East region of England according to a new report released today.(1)

The report has already been welcomed by the Prime Minister and two of Britain's major trade unions: the GMB and Community.

The report 'Offshore Wind - Onshore jobs' was produced by Europe's leading authority on sustainable energy and carbon management, Energy for Sustainable Development Ltd.(2) It is launched today by Greenpeace and the DTI at Tees Valley Regeneration at 11am. The report shows that the North East region, with its long history of manufacturing capacity, strong skills base and access to seaports, is ideally placed to reap the benefits of the wind power industry, which is the world's fastest growing energy source.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, himself a North East MP, said: "This new Greenpeace report shows that tackling global warming isn't just good news for our environment. By embracing renewable energy we can boost manufacturing industry and create new jobs in the areas that need them most."

Kevin Curran, General Secretary of the GMB said: "North East manufacturing companies have the fabrication skills and installation expertise to assist in the development of the offshore wind power energy initiative which should reverse the trend of job losses in this industry, create new businesses and grow the manufacturing skill base."

Michael Leahy, General Secretary of 'Community' - the union representing UK steelworkers - added: "Everyone knows that we can't carry on polluting our environment to generate energy. What is not widely understood yet is that areas such as the North East can benefit economically from addressing climate change. We need to ensure that the turbines and other materials needed to generate energy from wind are made in the North East and made from steel produced in the North East."

Greenpeace Executive Director Stephen Tindale said: "Climate change is the biggest threat we face, and the manufacturing expertise in the North East must be harnessed to build the renewable energy technology that will help defeat global warming. Trade unions, government and Greenpeace all recognise the double win for jobs and the environment that renewable energy offers the NE."

The authors of the report examine the North East region in detail and show how it is perfectly situated to reap the benefits of the growing UK and European offshore wind industries. The report says the NE is the natural location for the new industry because:

• The region's ports have easy access to the large proposed wind development sites on the east of the UK and also European sites.
  
• There is a long established tradition of maritime and manufacturing industries
  
• The NE already hosts an existing well coordinated renewables supply chain with important players already established in the region
  
• Underlying unemployment rates mean the NE workforce could support the rapid growth of turbine manufacture, while important players are already established in the region.

In the forward for the report energy minister Mike O'Brien states: "This report highlights the jobs and industry that could be generated in the UK by a successful offshore wind programme.... The NE of England is already home to the world's first purpose built offshore wind installation vessel. The region has the skills, the expertise and the location to develop a UK-based offshore wind industry."

Download the report: Offshore wind, onshore jobs - a new industry for Britain, pdf (1.673Mb)

For more information contact Greenpeace on 0207 865 8255 / 07801 212967
Press conference at Tees Valley Regeneration, Cavendish House, Teesdale Business Park, Stockton on Tees, Tees Valley, TS17 6QY.Tuesday 19th October 2004, 11am - 1.30pm

Notes

(1) ESD looked at three different scenarios in which the contribution from offshore wind power provides 10%, 20% and 30% of the UK's electricity supply by 2020 (the Government already has a commitment of having up to 20% of the UK's energy supplied by renewable resources by 2020). The top case scenario shows that 76,000 new jobs could be created. With appropriate policies and incentives as much as half these jobs could be in the North-east.

(2) For more information on ESD, please contact Tim Lewis at Four Communications plc on 0870 420 3216

(3) For more see: www.yes2wind.com and www.embracewind.com