§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) what assumptions informed the adoption of a 135-year time scale for the full dismantling of British Energy's nuclear power generating plants; and if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which the full dismantling of nuclear power generating plants could be undertaken in a shorter period; [30391]
(2) pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leeds, West (Mr. Battle) of 14 May, Official Report, column 409, what are the determinants of the future agreed strategy; and if he will make a statement. [30395]
§ Mr. LangGovernment policy on decommissioning is set out in the July 1995 White Paper "Review of Radioactive Waste Policy". This concluded that there are a number of potentially feasible and acceptable decommissioning strategies for nuclear power stations, including "safestore". British Energy's preferred strategy will be set out in the pathfinder prospectus. To ensure that operators' decommissioning strategies remain soundly based as circumstances change, they will be reviewed quinquenially by the Health and Safety Executive, which will consult the environment agencies. The agreements establishing the segregated fund provide for changes in the level of payments into the fund in the event that British Energy's agreed strategy changes.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what arrangements he has made of the assumptions and calculations used by BZW in its paper "The Cash Generator". [30455]
§ Mr. LangThe research paper "The Cash Generator" was written by independent analysts from the utilities sector of BZW Research. It is one of a number of research papers by independent analysts on British Energy. The analysts at BZW Research are completely independent of the team from BZW advising the Government on the privatisation.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proposals he has to underwrite future contributions by British Energy to its segregated fund in circumstances where(a) British Energy could not meet the payment and (b) British Energy became insolvent. [30344]
§ Mr. LangThe agreements contain cross and parent company guarantees which make Nuclear Electric Ltd. and Scottish Nuclear responsible for each others' obligations and require British Energy to act as guarantor.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what would be the level of payments of British Energy to its segregated fund if the time scale for the full dismantling of the nuclear power generating plants was(a) 20 years, (b) 50 years and (c) 70 years after the end of production. [30346]
§ Mr. LangThe level of payments into the fund are based on British Energy's expected costs of decommissioning its advanced gas-cooled reactor nuclear power stations 70 years after the end of generation and 50 years after generation for the Sizewell B pressurised water reactor. Figures for other time scales are not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
268W
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if the segregated fund would have preferential creditor status on the company's assets if British Energy became insolvent. [30345]
§ Mr. LangAs with other parties with whom British Energy has contractual arrangements, the fund will be able to enforce its contractual rights against the assets of British Energy.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade (1) to what extent British Energy's segregated fund will meet liabilities from the privatised assets; [30382]
(2) what proportion of the initial endowment towards the segregated fund of British Energy will be provided from public funds. [30381]
§ Mr. LangThe initial endowment to the segregated fund will be paid for by British Energy, not from public funds. This endowment, and subsequent quarterly payments will be paid by the privatised companies.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of the shortfall between total undiscounted liabilities of British Energy and the sum generated by the segregated fund will be met by British Energy revenues. [30335]
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Leeds West, of 14 May,Official Report, column 409, from what source intermediate-level waste and high-level waste disposal costs are to be funded. [30394]
§ Mr. LangAll ILW and HLW disposal costs for ILW and HLW arising from the operation of British Energy's power stations and the treatment of spent fuel from these stations will be funded by British Energy.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what proportion of the undiscounted liabilities of British Energy will be met by the segregated fund. [30337]
§ Mr. LangBE's accounts for the year ended 31 March 1996 have not yet been finalised. BE provided provisional financial information in respect of the year ended 31 March 1995 at an analysts' briefing on 4 March 1996.
The provisional financial information indicated that BE's undiscounted nuclear liabilities at 31 March 1995 were £14.3 billion, consisting of £10.3 billion for fuel cycle and £4 billion for decommissioning. The majority of the fuel cycle liabilities are covered by contracts. The segregated fund deals with all decommissioning costs except defuelling costs. As at 31 March 1995, the segregated fund arrangements cover just over 90 per cent. of the undiscounted decommissioning liabilities.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the estimated annual cost for(a) each advanced gas-cooled reactor and (b) the pressurised water reactor of reprocessing after shut-down and stage 1 decommissioning. [30341]
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what is the undiscounted value of the liabilities of British Energy; and if he will give a breakdown of the constituent parts of the total. [30336]
§ Mr. LangDetails of the undiscounted value of the nuclear liabilities of British Energy will be included in the prospectus.
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the financial forecasts indicating when British Energy will generate income sufficient to meet the post-shut-down reprocessing costs and stage 1 decommissioning costs of the advanced gas-cooled reactors as they close. [30340]
§ Mrs. BeckettTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what public funds will be used to meet the liabilities arising from the assets of British Energy. [30383]