Angry overseas customers are threatening to pull out of their contracts with the THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield because of BNFL’s attempts to impose stringent ‘cost- escalating adjustments’ to their contracts.
Reported in the current edition of Nuclear Fuel (a nuclear industry publication), German utilities, which represent THORP’s largest European customer, are threatening to commit all further reactor fuel to dry storage at power station stores in Germany rather than continue sending it to Sellafield for reprocessing. Stores are currently under construction under Germany’s nuclear phase out agreement.
In a re-run of previous clashes over contract prices, spawned by BNFL’s attempts 2 years ago to force customers to pay extra towards THORP’s poor performance and vitrification problems at Sellafield, the current threats are described by Nuclear Fuel as causing BNFL a real headache. They are clearly related to THORP’s continuing poor showing and BNFL’s failure to complete the contracts on time. Originally scheduled for 2004, completion date for THORP’s ‘baseload’ contracts (the first 10 years of operation) has already had to be extended to an 11th year to the intense annoyance of customers and, on the plant’s current performance, must be put back by yet another year at least to 12 years.
A CORE spokesperson said today “Through its inability to make THORP work properly BNFL is now in a real no-win situation. If customers pull out, then THORP’s order book crashes – if they stay in, BNFL will lose even more money on the contracts. The threats could also prove disasterous for the Sellafield MOX plant ”
Amongst the companies threatening BNFL is German utility E.ON Energie AG who only placed an order for the Sellafield MOX plant (SMP) nine months ago. The order, which agreed to have all E.ON plutonium from THORP reprocessing converted into MOX fuel for German reactors, was heralded as being the largest single MOX fuel contract for SMP, representing around 14% of SMP’s production target. The threat to store their reactor fuel in Germany rather than send it to Sellafield for reprocessing would blow a large hole in SMP’s already struggling order book.
THORP opened in 1994 and was scheduled to reprocess 7000 tonnes of spent fuel in the first ten years of operation (the Baseload). About to start its 9th year THORP has so far only processed 4300 tonnes, leaving 2700 tonnes to be completed. Ongoing problems with the vitrification of THORP’s High Level Liquid Waste will require at least 3-4 more years of reprocessing to complete the contracts, extending the Baseload period to 2006 at the earliest.