Roger Clayson, solicitor at Laceys Solicitors LLP in Bournemouth, has advised Inutec Limited in its acquisition of the freehold interest of land at the Winfrith nuclear site near Wool.
Part of the land was originally the subject of a lease to Inutec granted by the operators of the site, Magnox Limited. The freehold was previously owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
There were a number of complexities associated with the deal and it was necessary to involve (and where necessary seek approval of) the government, the regulators for nuclear sites and radioactive waste (the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) and the Environment Agency respectively) and local stakeholders. Among other matters, Inutec has taken on responsibility for the decommissioning of the site from the NDA. It has also had to obtain its own nuclear site licence – the first licence to a new operator granted by ONR for 15 years.
Inutec is a subsidiary of the Tradebe Group, one of the largest waste management companies in Europe, who are based in Barcelona. Inutec deals with the processing of radioactive waste from many nuclear sites around the UK, including those owned by the Ministry of Defence, the NDA and EDF.
Roger is a commercial property solicitor with specialist knowledge of the nuclear sector. He was formerly Head of Real Estate and Head of Legal at NDA. In this particular matter, as well as the property aspects, Roger advised on environmental issues, the Crichel Down rules, the revocation of NDA’s designating directions applying to the land and the conditions attached to the new nuclear site licence.
Roger said “I was first instructed on this matter in October 2013 after initially advising Tradebe on some of the aspects of its acquisition of Inutec that year. It took a long time to agree the heads of terms but once that was accomplished we moved reasonably quickly to completion. I would like to thank the team at Inutec and the other parties involved for their continued co-operation”.
If you would like legal advice on any matter connected with the nuclear industry then please do contact Roger at r.clayson@laceyssolicitors.co.uk or on 01202 205019.