DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
AND CLIMATE CHANGE News Release (2009/039) issued by COI News
Distribution Service on 31 March 2009
The line-up of the
board of the Government's watchdog to oversee the
decommissioning and waste disposal funding arrangements is
completed today. The Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board
(NLFAB) will scrutinise the financing plans for the
decommissioning and cleanup of nuclear waste from new nuclear
power stations. This is in line with the Government's
commitment that the taxpayer will not have to shoulder any costs
for clean-up.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Mike O'Brien announced
the appointments of:
* Lawyer - Anne Baldock, Global Head of
Allen& Overy LLP's Projects, Energy and Infrastructure
Practice, Allen and Overy LLP
* Fund Manager - Antony Osborn-Barker, Global Head of Pensions,
BNP Paribas
* Environmentalist - Simon Carroll, Programme Officer, National
Centre for Biological Diversity, Swedish University of
Agricultural Sciences & Uppsala University
* Economist - Dr Anthony White, MBE, Senior Adviser to Climate
Change Capital
* Actuary - Simon O'Regan, Global Head of Regions, Mercer
* Nuclear engineer / waste and decommissioning specialist -
Norman Harrison, Chief Executive, UKAEA
Energy and Climate Change Minister Mike O'Brien said:
"Nuclear energy is an affordable, low carbon, dependable and
safe technology that is important for our low carbon future. But
we've always said the taxpayer should be protected from the
costs of decommissioning and waste disposal arising from new
nuclear power stations. The NLFAB will be another piece of armor
to help ensure they get that protection.
The diverse expertise of the board will ensure the NLFAB can
provide the independent scrutiny and advice we need."
Lady Balfour, who was appointed as the Chairman of the NLFAB last
year, said:
"The NLFAB will be providing independent scrutiny of the
financing arrangements that will last decades into the future. The
work of the NLFAB will require hard thinking and robust
negotiation. This will help ensure that energy companies pay for
the full costs of decommissioning and their full share of costs
associated with nuclear waste management and disposal. I'm
looking forward to working with the new board appointed today."
Notes to editors:
1. The Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board (NLFAB) is
being set up to provide assurance that appropriate financial
arrangements will be put in place by the operators of any new
nuclear power stations in England, Wales or Northern Ireland to
meet the costs of decommissioning and waste management arising
from these stations.
2. This will involve scrutinising the Funded Decommissioning
Programme submitted by potential operators, and making
recommendations to Ministers on the suitability of the financial
arrangements within the programme.
3. Once approved, the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance
Board will also provide advice to the Secretary of State on the
regular reviews and ongoing scrutiny of financial arrangements.
4. It is anticipated that the first meeting of the Nuclear
Liabilities Financing Assurance Board will take place in June 2009.
5. The policy objectives behind the formation of the Nuclear
Liabilities Financing Assurance Board were set out in the
'Consultation on Funded Decommissioning Programme Guidance
for New Nuclear Power Stations' which can be found on the
BERR website at http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file44486.pdf.
6. This appointment has been made in accordance with the
requirements of the Office for the Commissioner for Public
Appointments. None of the members declared any political activity,
however it is noted that Dr Anthony White is Senior Advisor to the
Commission on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance.
7. Members of the Nuclear Liabilities Financing Assurance Board
receive remuneration of £500 per diem. These are three year
appointments starting from the 1 March 2009, or 1 May 2009.
8. Biographical details of the board members are below:
Lady Balfour of Burleigh
A writer, Lady Balfour of Burleigh is also a non-executive
Director of the Scottish Oriental Smaller Companies Trust and
Close Enterprise VCT. She is senior independent Director and
Chairman of the Safety and Environment Committee at Stagecoach
plc, and also Chairs Murray International's Remuneration
Committee. She taught politics and modern history at Oxford
University before moving to the Central Policy Review staff in the
Cabinet Office. She has worked for numerous public and private organisations.
Anne Baldock
Anne Baldock is the Global Head of Allen& Overy LLP's
Projects, Energy and Infrastructure Practice. She has been a
partner in the finance practice of Allen & Overy since 1990
and served on the global board of the Partnership between 2001 and 2006.
She has a wide experience of corporate, banking and finance
related legal work. As well as international energy and
infrastructure transactions, Anne acted on the first ever PPP to
close in the UK and has, since then advised on a number complex
transactions within the industry including the first PPP Project
to be bond financed, the first to include a funding competition,
the first bond financed merchant plant in the UK.
Her practical legal experience extends across the power, energy,
rail, roads, health, prison, and university accommodation sectors
and she is known for her pragmatic and commercial approach.
As well as advising within the projects sphere, Anne has advised
on numerous acquisition financings, secondary market sales of
equity and loan portfolios and other structured products and has
experience of the bond and lending markets and of derivatives and
other areas.
Anne is listed in Legal Business's 50 Most Influential Women
in Law, October 2007.
Simon Carroll
Simon Carroll has extensive international experience in
radioactive waste management and the environment, having
participated in work at the IAEA, OECD/NEA, European Commission
and a range of international conventions. Currently a programme
officer at the Swedish Centre for Biological Diversity, he
previously worked as a senior policy advisor to Greenpeace
International. He has qualifications in radiochemistry, medicine
and EU law, and is a member of several professional associations
including the International Nuclear Law Association, the
International Union of Radioecologists and the Society for Risk
Analysis. He lives in Stockholm and holds dual New Zealand and
Swedish citizenship.
Norman Harrison
Norman Harrison was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the UK
Atomic Energy Authority in February 2007. Norman is successfully
leading UKAEA's transformation into a vibrant new British
company winning work in the public and private sectors.
Norman's previous role with the UKAEA was as Director
Dounreay Division to which he was appointed on 1st November 2003.
He has transformed the Dounreay site into a project focussed
organisation, integrating expert staff from UKAEA's alliance
partners to facilitate knowledge transfer and to ensure UKAEA
utilises best practice from across both nuclear and non nuclear industries.
Norman's career before joining UKAEA was in the nuclear
power generation sector. A native of Manchester and chemist by
profession, he achieved a top national award when qualifying as a
Graduate of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was Station
Director at Heysham 1 in Lancashire before being appointed
Director of Sizewell B, British Energy's flagship PWR in
Suffolk, the post he held prior to being appointed at Dounreay.
Norman is an independent Governor of the Metropolitan University
of Manchester.
Norman and his wife Jacqueline live in Buckinghamshire. During
rare moments of relaxation, Norman admits to being passionate
about football and completely sold on opera, particular the works
of the Italian composer, Puccini.
Antony Osborn-Barker
As Global Head of BNP Paribas' pension advisory group,
Antony led teams in multiple countries to deliver the widest range
of banking, investment, insurance and custodial resources.
Formerly Head of Investment Services at Deloitte, Antony has
advised governments, supranational and public sector entities
including the UN's global pension fund and investment
management service, Sweden's AP Fonden, the Department of
Work and Pensions on establishing the Pension Protection Fund, the
Lord Chancellor's Office, corporates (including WH
Smith's groundbreaking derivatives transaction), trustees,
asset managers and insurance companies on policy, strategy, risk
management, transaction due diligence and governance.
With a degree in Banking & Finance, Antony trained as an
actuary with Mercer and Hewitt, Bacon & Woodrow. Tony is the
actuarial profession's Principal Examiner in investments and
directs its research programme on finance, investment and risk
management as well as authoring the official responses to
Government policy consultations such as the Myners' Review of
Institutional Investment.
Simon O'Regan
Simon O'Regan is President of Mercer's global
Retirement, Risk and Finance business, focussed on advising
employers and pension funds on long-term financial risk management.
Simon qualified as an actuary in 1984. His career has covered a
range of financial services areas, including insurance, pensions
and investments. Simon joined Mercer in the UK in 1988, left
Mercer in 1996 to join Vanguard, helping to establish their funds
management business in Australia and rejoined Mercer in 1999. He
led Mercer in Australia from 2000-2004, and from 2005-2008, he was
Mercer's Europe Region Head.
Dr Anthony White, MBE
Dr. Anthony White MBE has been involved in almost all aspects of
the energy industry, ranging from renewable energy research
through to strategy, finance, international development and
policy. His particular interests are the characteristics of
successful utility companies faced with competitive energy markets
and the constraints arising from climate change legislation.
He started his career with the Central Electricity Generating
Board as a research engineer where he established a geothermal
research team. He spent two years in America as a Harkness Fellow
then returned to the UK and, after posts in energy strategy,
safety and finance with the CEGB, joined stockbroker James Capel
for the liberalization of the England and Wales power industry.
After the privatization, he joined the National Grid Company where
he led the introduction of the Transmission Services Scheme and
subsequently returned to the City as Head of the European Utility
Research team at Kleinwort Benson and later Citigroup. This team
was recognised by Extel in 2002 as being the world's best
sector team covering European Companies and Tony also led the
research for the privatisation of Enel, Endesa, MVV, REE, Snam and Enagas.
After leaving Citigroup in 2002, he and four colleagues started
Climate Change Capital, the boutique banking company, specializing
in sustainable investment and which manages the world's
largest private Carbon Fund. He left CCC in February 2009 and now
provides advice to them, and others, through Ytilitu Limited.
He was awarded an MBE in 2004 for services to UK energy policy.
He is a non-Executive Director of the New and Renewable Energy
Centre at Blyth, a member of the UK Government's Commission
on Environmental Markets and Economic Performance and the High
Level Stakeholder Group on the Built Environment. He sits on the
Advisory Boards of Jacob & Co., the UK Energy Research Centre
and Sussex University's Energy Group.
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