AFP-MAIL : Britain's nuclear group facing bankruptcy:

LONDON, Oct 21 (AFP) - Britain's state-owned nuclear
services group is on the verge of bankruptcy as
spiralling costs have left it with 34 billion pounds
(49 billion dollars, 54 billion euros) of liabilities,
a British daily reported Sunday. The government,
which has been in discussions with the company for
months over its finances, could be forced to declare
BNFL (British Nuclear Fuels Ltd) insolvent within
weeks unless it agrees to underwrite the company's
long-term liabilities. "They had it coming. The
folly of reprocessing has been highlighted by
environmental groups and others," a spokesman for the
environmental group Greenpeace told the Daily
Telegraph. BNFL faces liabilities for
decommissioning its ageing nuclear power stations
and disposing of radioactive waste over the next 100
years, the paper said. Part of BNFLs liabilities
were inherited by the company when it was created in
1971. The liabilities are increasing every year as
more of its power stations close and as
environmental and safety standards become more
stringent. BNFL has asked the government to create
an authority to review, underwrite and fund the
massive costs of the nuclear clean-up faced by the
company. The company made a 210-million-pound
pre-tax loss last year, 66 million pounds of which
was due to its decommissioning activities. BNFL has
been in discussions with the Ministry of Defence and
the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority to
renegotiate loss-making contracts to decommission
buildings and plants at Sellafield in Cumbria,
northwest England. The liabilities are increasing
every year as more of its power stations close and
as environmental and safety standards become more
stringent, according to the same source. ag/pvh