20. As explained in Section 1.1, the UK nuclear power stations were originally under the control of the Central Electricity Generating Board and the South of Scotland Electricity Board. In 1996 the Government decided that part of the nuclear power generation industry should be privatised. The more modern Advanced Gas Cooled Reactor (AGR) stations and the single Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) station were considered to be capable of being separated into commercially attractive enterprises.
21. A holding company, British Energy plc (BE), was formed with wholly owned subsidiaries responsible for operating the AGR and PWR power stations. These subsidiaries, Nuclear Electric Limited and Scottish Nuclear Limited, were granted new licences for the existing nuclear power station sites.
22. Nuclear Electric operated the five AGR stations (Dungeness B, Hinkley Point B, Hartlepool, Heysham 1 and Heysham 2) and the PWR station (Sizewell B) in England. Scottish Nuclear operated the two AGR stations (Hunterston B and Torness) located in Scotland. The two Licensees have maintained common safety and technical interests. The intention of the holding company, British Energy, was always to bring all these power stations under a single management structure with integrated technical resources and create a single Licensee.
23. On 1 January 1999, Nuclear Electric Limited was renamed British Energy Generation Limited (BEGL) and became a subsidiary of British Energy (UK) Limited - see below. There was no need for a new licence to be issued, since a change of company name does not invalidate the existing licence.
24. On 1 January 1999 Scottish Nuclear Limited was renamed British Energy Generation (UK) Limited (BEG(UK)L. It remained a subsidiary of British Energy, the holding company. Also, BEG(UK)L now wholly owns BEGL. Again, there was no need for a new licence to be issued, since a change of company name does not invalidate the existing licence.
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