Examination of Witnesses (Questions 80-83)
DEPARTMENT OF
TRADE AND
INDUSTRY
6 FEBRUARY 2006
Q80 Mr Hoyle: People are saying that
this is an energy debate which is open, no decisions have been
taken, yet some people will ask why you are selling Westinghouse
if it is an open debate and nuclear could have a future, or whether
you are selling it because nuclear has no future. That is what
people will be asking and why are we selling it at this stage
and not waiting until the end of the energy review?
Alan Johnson: If we were to go
down the nuclear new build route, owning Westinghouse would cause
us more problems because for the Government, who are producing
the review, actually owning a major company causes more problems.
Q81 Mr Hoyle: Are you going to sell
everything else off as well?
Alan Johnson: The main reason
about Westinghouse is that we want a good return for the taxpayer.
Should we own Westinghouse? British Nuclear Fuels did a review
a couple of years ago which suggested we should not. Westinghouse
are now involved in building four nuclear power stations in China
which are by no means certain to make a profit. There is a big
risk involved and we do not think the British taxpayer should
be paying for that risk. Although we had to consider the points
you have made very carefully, whether it is the right time to
sell, whether we shall get a good price, we have just met Toshiba
today and it looks like a very good price for the British taxpayer.
Q82 Mr Hoyle: Is it £8 billion?
Alan Johnson: I do not think we
can say that, can we? I think we had a press conference this morning,
so it is probably out.
Q83 Mr Hoyle: If I follow the logic
of what you say, that you should not own it because it really
does complicate the issue and does put you in the wrong position,
does that mean that BNFL is going for sale? Does that mean that
atomic energy is now going?
Alan Johnson: No, that is another
complete question. The whole focus of all of those groups now
is on decommissioning. It is all focused on decommissioning and
cleaning up the mess that we have inherited.
Chairman: Secretary of State there are
many other questions we should like to ask you; some we shall
actually put in writing to you and seek written answers to. I
apologise to colleagues who did not get their supplementary questions
in. We think this is possibly the most important question facing
your department over the next few months and years. It is a subject
to which we shall return on many occasions and we are very grateful
to you for your time with us this afternoon. Thank you very much.
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