THE privatisation of British Energy, which runs the eight modern nuclear power stations, received a set back yesterday when the company confirmed faults had been discovered in the reactor at Sizewell B, its flagship station.
The news came just a day before the company floats on the stock market, valued at 198p per share.
The price values the company at about £1.4 billion, towards the lower end of the range of £1.26 billion to £1.96 billion the government announced last month, and represents half of the £2.8 billion it had originally aimed to raise.
British Energy said leaks had been discovered in "one or possibly two" of the fuel pins - the alloy tubes which contain uranium.
The reactor at the Suffolk power station has been out of action since June 28th, when it was shut down for routine maintenance.
Its timetable for a 45 day shutdown would mean the reactor should be back in operation on August 12th, said a spokeswoman.
"There is no suggestion the problem with the pins will cause any undue delay. There is no reason to suppose any economic impact," she said.
The news follows the revelation last week that reactors at two other nuclear power stations were being shut down so engineers could check for cracks.
Mr Tim Eggar, the Energy Minister, said yesterday: "I am delighted with the success of the sale. We have completed the final stage of the privatisation of the electricity industry and in the process have raised over £2 billion for the taxpayer."
Mr John Battle's, Labour's energy spokesman, said: "We believe that this price demonstrates clearly that the taxpayers have been shortchanged.
"The expectations were much higher but even those expectations were set below the level of the costs of building just one power station, Sizewell B."