BNFL Gains Approval to Sell British Nuclear Group

London (ots/PRNewswire) - BNFL has today gained Government
approval to sell its specialist nuclear clean-up business, British
Nuclear Group.

BNFL's Chief Executive Michael Parker said: "The sale is a
positive strategic move for both the business and our employees. It
gives the business the opportunity of increased performance and at
the same time gives our employees increased career opportunities and
the chance to earn a better future.

"We now look forward to working closely with the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to develop the criteria against which
preferred bidders will be selected. I expect that there will be
significant interest from potential purchasers."

Lawrie Haynes, British Nuclear Group's Chief Executive, said: "A
strong British Nuclear Group means strong competition and that can
only be good news for the NDA and the UK taxpayer. The stronger we
are, the better placed we are to safely deliver what I call 'Big V',
that is the value we can create for UK taxpayer by reducing the
overall lifetime bill for cleaning up the UK's nuclear legacy.

"We will deliver this value by making real progress in safely
cleaning up the sites, actively managing the supply chain while at
the same time demonstrating our clear commitment to the communities
in which we operate.

"The right buyer will enable us to complement our skills with
theirs to create a powerful player in the global nuclear clean-up
market and 'raise the bar' in terms of subsequent competitions. This
delivers enhanced value to the NDA by accelerating nuclear clean-up
in the UK.

The company also welcomes the NDA's strategy document published
today which, amongst other things, outlines that with a new owner we
will have the opportunity to continue to run the contract for
managing and operating the Sellafield site until 2012, giving British
Nuclear Group a fantastic opportunity to deliver significant value
for the customer over the lifetime of that contract.

In order to further drive a competitive clean-up market in the UK,
the NDA's strategy also requires the evolution of the Reactor Sites
business into two separate "bundles", still owned by British Nuclear
Group, in the run up to competition. This will enable each bundle to
be competed separately.

Following today's announcement work will start in earnest to
ensure that an open and transparent sales process is conducted as
swiftly as possible. This will commence with a review of the
incumbent contracts, development of pre-qualification criteria and
preparation of sales material. It is expected that the sale process
will be completed by autumn 2007, earlier if possible.

Notes to Editors:

Who we are

- British Nuclear Group is a specialist nuclear site management,
operations and clean-up business, employing around 800 people.
British Nuclear Group is also responsible for the management of a
further 12,000 people through the site management and operations
contracts it has from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

- It operates on 18 sites throughout the UK, together with a
number of locations in Europe

- Part of the BNFL Group, British Nuclear Group's strategy and
focus is to deliver accelerated nuclear clean-up programmes, safely
and cost-effectively for our customers in the UK and overseas.

- The sale of British Nuclear Group is the final stage in the
evolution of a strategy for BNFL jointly agreed with Government in
2003.

- The company is founded on a proud track record of applying
in-depth experience and innovation to complex nuclear challenges. The
end result will be a safe environment for future generations.

- Its two distinct businesses, Management Services and Project
Services represent a wide range of skills and expert knowledge
interchangeable across its area of operations.

- These operations are carried out under licence from the Nuclear
Installations Inspectorate (NII) and environmental authorisations
from the Environment Agency and the Scottish Environmental Protection
Agency. They include nuclear clean-up, reactor operations and
decommissioning, reprocessing and waste management.

- British Nuclear Group has the management expertise and spread of
capabilities to take on the largest nuclear site management tasks as
a prime contractor.

- It delivers highly focused specialist teams, often working in
partnership with others, to develop solutions for the most
challenging decommissioning and clean-up projects. For example
British Nuclear Group is working in partnership with Serco and
Lockheed Martin at AWE Aldermaston; Fluor at Sellafield; Amec at
Dounreay; and numerous other projects across the UK.

ots Originaltext: British Nuclear Fuels plc
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
For more information contact: Paul Vallance, Director of
Communications, British Nuclear Group, +44-1925-834075; Janine
Claber, Head of Communications, British Nuclear Group,
+44-1925-832146