EnergySolutions to acquire Brit firm

EnergySolutions said Wednesday that it has reached an agreement to acquire a British company that holds contracts to operate and decommission 10 nuclear sites with 22 reactors in the United Kingdom.

Utah-based EnergySolutions will acquire Reactor Sites Management Co. Ltd. from British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), the holding company for British Nuclear Group and Nexia Solutions, according to EnergySolutions officials. EnergySolutions declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Reactor Sites Management, through its subsidiary Magnox Electric Ltd., holds the contracts and licenses to operate and decommission the nuclear sites and reactors on behalf of the British government's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which is responsible for the cleanup of the sites.

No nuclear waste will be transported to Utah because of the acquisition, said EnergySolutions spokesman Mark Walker. The agreement will have no impact on Clive Operations, a nuclear-waste facility 80 miles west of Salt Lake City, he added.

EnergySolutions International Group President Philip Strawbridge said in a phone interview that some EnergySolutions workers from the United States will help with technology in the United Kingdom, but none will be from Utah.

The acquisition came after a competitive process, and EnergySolutions prevailed in part because of its demonstrated ability to "safely manage and operate large nuclear facilities," according to an EnergySolutions news release.

EnergySolutions, formerly Envirocare, will gain 3,500 employees through the acquisition.

EnergySolutions chief executive officer Steve Creamer lauded the deal and said it will greatly expand EnergySolutions' influence in the United Kingdom.

Strawbridge said that before the acquisition, the company had a variety of small operations in the United Kingdom. The company was responsible for nuclear source removal in places such as schools and hospitals.

EnergySolutions also has operations in Mexico and Canada that include the design of nuclear-waste cannisters, Strawbridge said.

E-mail: rpalmer@desnews.com

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