Fresh doubts emerged yesterday over the handling of Britain's drive to build a new generation of nuclear power stations after the delay of a highly sensitive auction of three sites earmarked for construction of reactors.
An online bidding system for the three government-owned sites — at Oldbury, in Gloucestershire, Wylfa, in Anglesey, and Bradwell, Essex — had been scheduled to start last week, according to industry sources. At the eleventh hour, however, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the government body overseeing the auction, postponed the launch.
An NDA spokesman said last night that the auction remained on track and the online bidding system would begin “very soon”. He added that the overall timeframe for the bid had not changed, with the three winners to be announced by the end of the month.
The delay has raised concerns about the leadership of the NDA — a pivotal organisation in the construction programme. The Times reported last week that the NDA was still seeking a chief executive, eight months after the departure of Ian Roxburgh. Any evidence that the auction had been mishandled could present an opportunity for a legal challenge from those opposed to new reactors in Britain.
The NDA, which is being run by Richard Waite, its acting chief executive, declined to comment on the reasons for the delay but denied speculation that the online bidding system had suffered a technical glitch. The system allows companies to bid for sites electronically as many times as they wish and to monitor the highest current offer. However, the identity of bidders is confidential until the process has ended. A spokesman said that no public announcements had been made regarding the start of online bidding.
The NDA said that it planned to complete its asset disposal programme on schedule by the end of March. “This process is a dynamic one and further dialogue with bidders has resulted in small changes to the detailed timetable. All those intending to bid have been informed,” it said.
The NDA invited companies to submit expressions of interest in December. Since then, they have been asked to show that they have the financial strength for the projects — expected to cost up to £4 billion per reactor.
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), Iberdrola, the Spanish group that owns ScottishPower, GdF-Suez, of France, RWE and E.ON, the German groups, Vattenfall, of Sweden, and Energy Solutions, of the United States, are among those expected to bid.
The auction is being run by Colliers CRE, the property consultancy, with the assistance of UBS, the banking group that is advising the Government on nuclear matters. It is expected to earn several hundred million pounds for the Treasury. The NDA will announce the winners at the end of this month.
A similar auction is due to be held at a later date for land at Sellafield.
The auction of the NDA sites represents a separate process from the development of reactors on sites owned by British Energy, the UK nuclear generator acquired by EDF last year for £12.5 billion.
An online bidding system for the three government-owned sites — at Oldbury, in Gloucestershire, Wylfa, in Anglesey, and Bradwell, Essex — had been scheduled to start last week, according to industry sources. At the eleventh hour, however, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the government body overseeing the auction, postponed the launch.
An NDA spokesman said last night that the auction remained on track and the online bidding system would begin “very soon”. He added that the overall timeframe for the bid had not changed, with the three winners to be announced by the end of the month.
The delay has raised concerns about the leadership of the NDA — a pivotal organisation in the construction programme. The Times reported last week that the NDA was still seeking a chief executive, eight months after the departure of Ian Roxburgh. Any evidence that the auction had been mishandled could present an opportunity for a legal challenge from those opposed to new reactors in Britain.
The NDA, which is being run by Richard Waite, its acting chief executive, declined to comment on the reasons for the delay but denied speculation that the online bidding system had suffered a technical glitch. The system allows companies to bid for sites electronically as many times as they wish and to monitor the highest current offer. However, the identity of bidders is confidential until the process has ended. A spokesman said that no public announcements had been made regarding the start of online bidding.
The NDA said that it planned to complete its asset disposal programme on schedule by the end of March. “This process is a dynamic one and further dialogue with bidders has resulted in small changes to the detailed timetable. All those intending to bid have been informed,” it said.
The NDA invited companies to submit expressions of interest in December. Since then, they have been asked to show that they have the financial strength for the projects — expected to cost up to £4 billion per reactor.
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE), Iberdrola, the Spanish group that owns ScottishPower, GdF-Suez, of France, RWE and E.ON, the German groups, Vattenfall, of Sweden, and Energy Solutions, of the United States, are among those expected to bid.
The auction is being run by Colliers CRE, the property consultancy, with the assistance of UBS, the banking group that is advising the Government on nuclear matters. It is expected to earn several hundred million pounds for the Treasury. The NDA will announce the winners at the end of this month.
A similar auction is due to be held at a later date for land at Sellafield.
The auction of the NDA sites represents a separate process from the development of reactors on sites owned by British Energy, the UK nuclear generator acquired by EDF last year for £12.5 billion.
Source: The Times
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