Blair aide gave me ultimatum to sign controversial uranium deal, Meacher claims

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Blair aide gave me ultimatum to sign controversial uranium deal, Meacher claims

By Steve Connor, Science Editor

Friday, 15 April 2011


A former minister has demanded an official investigation into Downing Street's approval of a controversial nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield in Cumbria that has already cost the taxpayer £1.34bn – with little return.


Michael Meacher MP, who was environment minister under Tony Blair, said that he would be asking the National Audit Office and the House of Commons' Public Accounts Committee to investigate the economic evidence used to justify the licensing of the Sellafield Mox Plant. Despite the cost, since the plant opened it has failed to fabricate more than a tiny fraction of the uranium- plutonium mixed oxide fuel it was designed to produce for foreign customers – just 13.8 tons over 8 years compared to a projected output of 120 tonnes a year.

Mr Meacher was the minister responsible for giving the plant an operating licence in 2001 but signed the licence only after he was pressurto do so by Tony Blair's chief of staff, Jonathan Powell, who had told Mr Meacher that the former Prime Minister was adamant the "Mox fuel" plant must open.

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The plant was built without a licence in 1996 under the previous Conservative government at a cost of £498m – more than the cost of the 2012 Olympic stadium. However, it did not receive an operating licence to go "live" with radioactive plutonium until 2001 after five public consultations and an economic report by independent consultants Arthur D Little. The plant has since cost a further £840m in commissioning and operating costs.




http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-aide-gave-me-ultimatum-to-sign-controversial-uranium-deal-meacher-claims-2268086.html

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Just for our own understanding of how the corporate world works via bought officials --

The phone call was "terse/straight to the point" -- "PM wants matter settled by 3pm today" --

Meacher told him he wasn't satisfied -- but he was being told he had to sign up.
Didn't actually say "You sign this" -- but Meacher says he quite well knew what the message
was.