My right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (John Hutton) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.

Further to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry's announcement on 24 October 2006, (Official Report, col. 85WS) regarding the sale by British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) of British Nuclear Group (BNG) and establishment of a National Nuclear Laboratory, I would like to announce that BNFL has commenced the process to sell the group’s one-third stake in Atomic Weapons Establishment Management Limited (AWEML). AWEML is currently owned equally by BNFL, Serco and Lockheed Martin. In addition to seeking to maximise shareholder return through the sale process, the Government and BNFL will seek to ensure that an AWEML consortium is in place to manage the enduring performance of AWEML's subsidiary, AWE plc, in continuing to meet the requirements of its customer, the Ministry of Defence.

I will update Parliament on the progress of the sale at a later date.