Centrica pulls out of nuclear deal
The UK's biggest supplier energy supplier Centrica has pulled out of a programme to build the next generation of nuclear power plants in the UK.
The company blamed spiralling costs and delays and has launched a £500m share buyback. The Department of Energy and Climate Change has insisted the decision to pull out is “not a reflection on UK Government policy”.
It comes as MPs warned the cost of cleaning up the Sellafield nuclear site had hit £67.5bn and showed no sign of coming under control.
The Public Accounts Committee said successive governments had failed to "get to grips" with the waste stored at the site.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge this morning said there had been an "appalling legacy of neglect over decades".
"I am extremely concerned. You talk about £67.5bn; my view is that those costs will spiral upwards," she told the Today programme.
Last week Cumbria county council rejected plans for a new nuclear waste storage facility in the area.