LONDON, August 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Dougie Rooney, Unite National Officer, said:

"It is time to bring this farcical British Energy sales process to an end. The employees at British Energy are the best in world and are more than capable of running the next generation of nuclear energy supply if given the opportunity.

"The government must act in the interests of the employees and the entire nation. It is vital we get the new nuclear power station build programme under way in order to reduce our dependency on expensive gas and oil. If we do not act now this dependency will cripple the economy.

"The government must force British Energy to make available their sites in order that international consortiums can build the next generation of power stations.

"UK manufacturing can develop and become a global supply chain player for nuclear and clean coal power station build new build.

"The trade unions will be asking for an urgent meeting with John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform."

For more information contact Doug Rooney on +44(0)7798-824967