Legal teams advise power giants on next generation nuclear plants

Burges Salmon has advised the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on the sale of plots of land adjacent to three ­existing nuclear plants at Bradwell in Essex, Oldbury in Gloucestershire and Wylfa in Anglesey.

The NDA will use the £387m from the sale to fund its decommissioning work.

The auction began in March 2008. Burges Sal­mon partner Ian Salter said: “Bringing this to market has been a marathon effort all round, requiring meticulous planning and equally meticulous execution.”

CMS Cameron McKenna partner Charles Currier advised RWE Npower on its successful acquisition of 178 hectares of land at Wylfa and 48 hectares at Oldbury, in a joint venture with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer partner Andrew Hutchings’ client EON UK.

Herbert Smith partner Mark Newbery advised EDF on its purchase of 200 hectares at Bradwell. The first new nuclear plants will come on line from 2017.

These sites were in particularly high demand because it is thought that local support means plots close to existing nuclear plants are most likely to receive the green light for future nuclear development.