THE UK NUCLEAR-POWER INDUSTRY

In the United Kingdom, nuclear power plants are operated by three comp anies: Nuclear Electric (NE), Scottish Nuclear (SN), and British Nucle ar Fuels plc (BNFL). The state-operated power industry was privatized in 1989 with the exception of nuclear power generation activities, whi ch were made part of the newly founded (state-owned) NE aad SN. At the same time, a moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plan ts was agreed. Only Sizewell B, the first plant in the UK to be equipp ed with a pressurized water reactor, was to be completed. That unit wa s first synchronized with the power grid on February 14, 1995. Another decision in 1989 provided for a review to be conducted in 1994 of the future of the peaceful uses of nuclear power in the country, The resu lts of the review were presented by the government in a white paper on May 9, 1995. Accordingly, NE and SN will be merged and privatized in 1996; the headquarters of the new holding company will be in Scotlnnd. The review does not foresee the construction of more nuclear power pl ants. However, NE hopes to gain a competitive edge over other sources of primary energy as a result of this privatization, and advocates con struction of a dual-unit plant identical with Sizewell B so as to avoi d recurrent design and development costs. Outside the UK, the company plants to act jointly with the reactor vendor, Westinghouse, especiall y in the Pacific region; a bid submitted by the consortium has been sh ortlisted by the future operator of the Lungmen nuclear power plant pr oject in Taiwan. In upgrading the, safety of nuclear power planes in E astern Europe, the new company will be able to work through existing c ontacts of SN.