APPENDIX 2
NDA HAS RECEIVED $343.8 MILLION FROM LAND
SALES FOR NEW REACTORS
Please see highlighted section in article below:
NDA has received $343.8 million from land sales
for new reactors
Nucleonics Week Volume
50, Number 46, 19 November 2009
The UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has
received GBP206.3 million (US$343.8 million) so far from sales
of surplus NDA land at four sites earmarked for new nuclear power
stations, according to information provided to Platts in a 9 November
reply to a Freedom of Information, or FOI, request.
NDA said last month the sale of land at those
sites would bring in GBP450 million. NDA's FOI response did not
say how much money it expects to receive for each of three of
the sites, but it did disclose details about the reasons for the
total GBP243.7 outstanding and the terms for some of the deals.
The sale to EDF Energy of land at the Bradwell
site in Essex accounts for GBP185 million of the GBP206.3 million
received. Sales of land at Wylfa in Wales and Oldbury in Gloucestershire
have brought in deposits of GBP13.8 million and GBP7.5 million,
respectively. The Wylfa and Oldbury lands were sold to a joint
venture of E.On UK and RWE Npower called Horizon Nuclear Power.
All of those sales were announced in April. At that time, NDA
spokesman Bill Hamilton said the total amount for the three sales
was GBP387 million.
On 28 October, NDA announced it had sold a fourth
piece of surplus land—190 hectares (470 acres) at the Sellafield
site in Cumbria for "at least GBP70 million" to a consortium
of Iberdrola, GDF Suez and Scottish & Southern Energy.
In its reply to the FOI request, NDA said it
has received no money yet for the Sellafield land and that the
sale was actually an option to buy the lease on part of the site
(NW, 12 Nov, 9).
In the FOI response, the NDA refused to identify
which companies participated in the NDA's "market engagement"
for the land at Sellafield, citing commercial confidentiality.
It said "several parties came forward" during the market
engagement phase and that one company other than the Iberdrola/GDF
Suez consortium "progressed to the discussion-of-terms stage."
The NDA's 9 November answer to the FOI request did not say whether
the GBP185 million it has received from the Bradwell sale was
the total expected and Hamilton would not elaborate.
In May, Hamilton said the bids on Oldbury, Wylfa
and Bradwell were based on "lump sum, upfront payments,"
not payments contingent on or deferred to the beginning of construction
(NW, 7 May, 4).
In an interview November 10, Hamilton said his
earlier statement was correct but that there were "two small
issues remaining as to why we have not received full payment"
on sites at Oldbury and Wylfa.
On the Oldbury land, there is a "small
corner of the site sold that is actually part of the existing
licensed site at Oldbury," Hamilton said. Magnox North operates
two Magnox reactors at the site on behalf of the NDA on land adjacent
to the land leased.
"That corner almost certainly won't be
needed to be used by the buyer, but we sold it just in case,"
Hamilton said. "If they do need this corner of the site,
Magnox North would have to de-license it first, but the buyer
hasn't decided yet whether they need it. That's the reason E.On
hasn't paid all the money yet," he said.
Hamilton said he didn't know how big the "corner"
of the property was; only that it was "very, very small.
I don't believe the new owner would need the corner, but they're
still looking at the detailed designs," he said.
He said the amount of money to be paid for the
site, which he declined to disclose, wouldn't change whether the
corner is taken or not.
With regard to the Wylfa land, Hamilton said
the delay in payment is because part of the land sold is owned
by EDF Energy.
The NDA and adjoining EDF plots were sold under
longterm leases together, but the deal is complicated by an agreement
EDF secured with the British government during its deal to buy
British Energy. Under that agreement, EDF would release its part
of the Wylfa plot only if it were allowed to build its four planned
EPRs on other sites. Sizewell, Hinkley Point and Bradwell were
included in the government's nuclear National Policy Statement
as locations for potential new nuclear units (NW, 12 Nov., 1).
The NDA's 26 November 2008 request for expressions
of interest document governing the land sales said EDF's release
of its hold on its share of the Wylfa plot was also conditioned
on whether there are any legal challenges to the finalized National
Policy Statement covering Sizewell, Hinkley Point or Bradwell.
The statement, published 9 November, named 10
UK sites as potential locations for new nuclear units (NW, 12
Nov, 1). The final nuclear statement, along with others on energy
policy, is not expected to be approved until spring 2010. Hamilton
said November 10 the Wylfa sale won't be completed until the National
Policy Statement is finalized.
David Stellfox
Barcelona
REFERENCES1 http://www.british-energy.com/documents/2.5_announcement_FINAL.pdf—See
Appendix 1 of this evidence for the relevant paragraphs
2 http://www.nce.co.uk/5212875.article
3 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/08/2048
4 http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/?p=1600
5 http://infrastructure.independent.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/ProgrammeofProjects-5-Jan1.pdf
6 http://www.british-energy.com/documents/2.5_announcement_FINAL.pdf
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