Firm linked to BNFL ran nuclear inquiry

A COMPANY which conducted a government inquiry into the safety of nuclear waste transportation has business links with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), the company responsible for the waste cargoes.

Nukem Nuclear Ltd gave BNFL's nuclear transport methods a clean bill of health earlier this month. But its report made no mention of ties with BNFL, including a pounds 54m joint contract to decommission Britain's first nuclear reactor.

Opposition MPs and anti-nuclear campaigners last night called on the Government to re-examine Nukem's appointment and commission a new independent report.

Bernard Jenkin, the Conservative transport spokesman, described Nukem's appointment as "clumsy" and said he would like to see any new survey conducted by the independent National Radiological Protection Board.

The survey of rolling stockland alongside tracks was commissioned last November by the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR) in the wake of objections to BNFL's plans to move its marshalling yard from Willesden to Cricklewood in north-west London. BNFL owns Direct Rail Services Ltd, which is responsible for transporting the waste.

Spent fuel rods from Britain's nuclear reactors would have to pass through the area. John Reid, who was then minister for transport, unveiled Nukem's findings three weeks ago emphasising the independence of the survey. Confidence in that independence, however, may be dented by the relationship between BNFL and Nukem.

According to BNFL's latest annual report, it has teamed up with Nukem to decommission Windscale Pile 1, the remains of the first reactor built on the Cumbrian Sellafield site in the constituency of Jack Cunningham, the Cabinet "enforcer". In addition, BNFL owns 50 per cent of the Dutch/British/German uranium consortium, Urenco. The other 50 per cent is owned by Uranit Deutschland, half of which is owned by RWE Energie AG, Nukem's parent company.

Nukem is also involved in a pounds 27m contract for the decommissioning of Berkely Magnox nuclear power station near Bristol, which is being overseen by BNFL. And Nukem's German parent company, Nukem Nuklear GmbH, and BNFL are part of a consortium involved in scrapping the Chernobyl nuclear reactor.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament said the links rendered the independence of the survey questionable. William Peden, CND's parliamentary campaigner, said: "There are other companies and organisations more highly qualified and regarded as `independent' in Britain... who could have been commissioned to conduct this survey. We want to see it scrapped and carried out again on a truly independent basis."

Keith Collett, marketing director of Nukem Nuclear Ltd, described the links as "very tenuous" and said his company had tendered against BNFL for the Berkeley contract when it was put forward by Magnox Electric Plc. That company was later absorbed by BNFL.

"Our staff are highly diligent, professional and independent," he said. "Making connections might look good as a journalistic exercise if you go back far enough along the company family tree. In reality, however, RWE has 140,000 employees in Germany and there are just 170 of us here operating completely independently."

The DETR said there was a wide range of bids for the contract ranging from pounds 40,000 to pounds 80,000. It said Nukem was chosen following a tendering process held under European Union law after offering "the best package in terms of ability to carry out the work". The DETR said it was satisfied the job was carried out independently.