Sellafield affair 'badly damaged' BNFL

Plans for a partial sell-off of BNFL have been put on hold

Baroness Symons: "Safety will not be compromised"

Senior managers from British Nuclear Fuels have pledged to "put their house in order" following damning reports about safety procedures at the Sellafield plant in Cumbria.

BNFL chairman Hugh Collum - who admitted the company had been "badly damaged" by the revelations - was facing questions from MPs investigating the future of the troubled company.

The Commons Trade and Industry committee is examining the government's plans to sell off nearly half of BNFL, which have now been put on hold.

Mr Collum said the company acknowledged it needed more time to prepare for the sell-off, and said postponing it until 2002 would provide time to work towards establishing the "stability and reliability" of the company to potential investors.

'Real and lasting changes'

But he said the sell-off plan provided a "powerful incentive to improve performance".

He said: "We have a determination to make real and lasting changes. We are not complacent about the recent criticisms of BNFL and we are undertaking a thorough review of the company.

"BNFL has been badly damaged by recent events, but it is too important to just throw away in a knee jerk response to the current pressures and criticisms."

MPs were questioning the BNFL boss about the company's financial plans, especially after the recent safety problems put major overseas contracts in doubt.

In February, BNFL admitted that staff checking the size of mixed plutonium and uranium oxide (Mox) fuel pellets destined for Japan had faked safety records.

Pollution fears

Japan and Germany suspended all Mox imports from the UK as a result, and BNFL chief executive John Taylor resigned.

Mr Collum said BNFL managers would be travelling to Japan to try to rescue a contract put at risk by the scandals.

Sellafield has also come under fire from Ireland and Denmark, who want the plant closed because of fears over pollution.

The government had hoped to raise up to £1.5bn by selling off up to 49% of the company next year.

But on Wednesday it announced that the plans to partially privatise BNFL had been put back until 2002 at the earliest.