For Sale: British Nuclear Plants

The board of British Nuclear Fuels Ltd., operator of 12 nuclear plants, has agreed to let private investors buy the plants.

The main operating arm of the government-owned BNFL is the British Nuclear Group, which is responsible for nuclear generation, reprocessing and cleanup.

The BNFL board decided Thursday to privatize British Nuclear Group and told its 15,000 staffers Friday morning about its decision, the Guardian reported.

Such a privatization could bring the government as much as $18 billion.

Likely buyers include Amec, the British project management and engineering group; Serco, the British support services company; and a handful of U.S. engineering groups like Fluor, Halliburton, Bechtel, Jacobs and the Washington Group.