Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971

Transfer of parts of Authority's undertaking

Transfer of part of Authority's undertaking to Nuclear Fuels Company

1

• (1) On the appointed day there shall, by virtue of this Act and without further assurance, be transferred to British Nuclear Fuels Limited (in this Act referred to as “the Nuclear Fuels Company”)—

• (a) so much of the undertaking of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (in this Act referred to as “the Authority”) as, immediately before that day, is financed out of the Authority’s trading fund and is not excepted from this paragraph by subsection (2) of this section;

• (b) all such property, rights, liabilities and obligations as, immediately before the appointed day, are property, rights, liabilities and obligations of the Authority appertaining to that part of the Authority’s undertaking which falls within paragraph (a) of this subsection and are not excepted from this paragraph by or under subsection (2) of this section or section 3, section 5 or section 6 of this Act; and

• (c) all such lands and premises as immediately before the appointed day are the property of the Authority at Springfields in the county of Lancaster of at Windscale in the county of Cumberland and do not fall within paragraph (b) of this subsection.

• (2) There are excepted—

• (a) from paragraph (a) of the preceding subsection, so much of the undertaking of the Authority as immediately before the appointed day is carried on at the Authority’s Radiochemical Centre at Amersham in the County of Buckingham (in this Act referred to as “the Radiochemical Centre”), or is carried on at the Authority’s establishment at Harwell in the county of Berkshire, and

• (b) from paragraph (b) of that subsection, all such lands and premises as immediately before that day are occupied for the purposes of the Authority’s establishment at Risley in the county of Lancaster (whether any such lands or premises are situated in that county or in the county of Chester).

• (3) For the purposes of this and the next following section any part of the Authority’s undertaking shall be taken to be financed out of the Authority’s trading fund at any time if the expenses of the Authority in carrying on that part of the undertaking are at that time treated in the accounts of the Authority as payable out of that fund.

Transfer of part of Authority's undertaking to Radiochemical Company

2

• (1) On the appointed day there shall, by virtue of this Act and without further assurance, be transferred to The Radiochemical Centre Limited (in this Act referred to as “the Radiochemical Company”)—

• (a) so much of the undertaking of the Authority as immediately before that day is financed out of the Authority’s trading fund and is carried on at the Radiochemical Centre or at the Authority’s establishment at Harwell; and

• (b) all such property, rights, liabilities and obligations as, immediately before that day, are property, rights,liabilities and obligations of the Authority appertaining to that part of the Authority’s undertaking which falls within paragraph (a) of this subsection and are not excepted from this paragraph by or under subsection (2) of this section or section 3, section 5 or section 6 of this Act.

• (2) There are excepted from paragraph (b) of the preceding subsection all lands and premises forming part of the Authority’s establishment at Harwell.

Exclusions from transfers in respect of patents and other industrial property

3

• (1) There is excepted from paragraph (b) of section 1(1) and from paragraph (b) of section 2(1) of this Act any interest of the Authority in—

• (a) any patent, registered design or registered trade mark, or

• (b) any application for the grant of a patent, or for the registration of a design or of a trade mark, which is pending immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of section 1 or section 2 of this Act, as the case may be, or

• (c) any invention in respect of which an application for a patent is pending as mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection or which, in pursuance of arrangements made in that behalf by the Authority, is recorded as having been made before the day mentioned in that paragraph.

• (2) There are also excepted from paragraph (b) of section 1(1) and from paragraph (b) of section 2(1) of this Act—

• (a) any rights, liabilities or obligations of the Authority in respect of any licence to use a patented invention, registered design or registered trade mark, or to use an invention, design or trade mark in respect of which an application for a patent, or for registration of the design or trade mark, is pending, whether any such licence was granted by or to the Authority, including any rights to grant sub-licences under any such licence;

• (b) any rights, liabilities or obligations of the Authority arising under any assignment (whether by or to the Authority) of a patent, registered design or registered trade mark, or of the right to apply for or to obtain any patent or to apply for or to obtain registration of a design or trade mark; and

• (c) any rights, liabilities or obligations of the Authority under any agreement in so far as it provides (whether conditionally or otherwise) for any such licence or sub-licence as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or any such assignment as is mentioned in paragraph (b) of this subsection to be granted or made in the future or for the furnishing of information or technical assistance relating to any invention, design or trade mark, whether actual or prospective.

• (3) Where by virtue of subsection (1) or subsection (2) of this section any interest, rights, liabilities or obligations are excepted as therein mentioned, the exception shall include the copyright in—

• (a) any literary work consisting of a document by which the interest, rights, liabilities or obligations were conferred or imposed or in which the subject-matter to which they relate is embodied, or

• (b) any artistic work on which that subject-matter was based or from which it was wholly or partly derived.

• (4) The Authority shall make available to each of the companies such facilities for, and information relating to, the use of any invention, design or trade mark in respect of which an exception is made by the preceding provisions of this section as may be agreed between the Authority and the company to be requisite for the purposes of the part of the Authority’s undertaking transferred to that company by virtue of this Act, or as, in default of such agreement, the Secretary of State may direct as being requisite for those purposes; and any such facilities or information shall be so made available in such manner, and on such terms as to payment or otherwise, as may be agreed between the Authority and the company or as, in default of such agreement, the Secretary of State may direct.

• (5) In this section any reference to a patent, or to a registered design or registered trade mark, or to copyright, shall be construed as referring to a patent granted, or a design or trade mark registered, or to copyright subsisting, under the laws of any country or territory outside the United Kingdom as well as to a patent granted, design or trade mark registered, or copyright subsisting, under the laws of the United Kingdom.

Use of certain lands, premises, apparatus, facilities and services

4

• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) The Authority shall secure to the Radiochemical Company the exclusive occupation and use of the lands and premises at Harwell which, immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of section 2 of this Act, are occupied and used exclusively for the purposes of that part of the Authority’s undertaking which is transferred by that section, and shall make available to that company the use of—

• (a) such means of access and other facilities and services as may be agreed between them to be requisite in connection with the occupation and use of those lands and premises or as, in default of such agreement, the Secretary of State may direct as being in his opinion requisite in connection therewith, and

• (b) all such additional apparatus, facilities and services as may be agreed between them to be additional apparatus, facilities and services which, immediately before that day, were used or enjoyed in connection with that part of the Authority’s undertaking carried on at Harwell which is transferred by section 2 of this Act or as, in default of such agreement, the Secretary of State may direct as being in his opinion additional apparatus, facilities and services which were so used or enjoyed.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, anything which, in accordance with ... subsection (2) of this section, is required to be secured or made available shall be so secured or made available on such terms, as to payment or otherwise, as may be agreed between the Authority and ... the Radiochemical Company, as the case may be, or as, in default of such agreement, the Secretary of State may direct.

• (5) In this section any reference to additional apparatus, facilities and services is a reference to apparatus, facilities and services which—

• (a) do not form part of the property and rights transferred by section 2 of this Act, and

• (b) do not fall within subsection (2)(a) of this section.

Powers of Secretary of State in relation to transfers under ss. 1 and 2

5

• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (5) ... a certificate issued by the Secretary of State to the effect that any part of the Authority’s undertaking or any property of the Authority which is specified in the certificate was, or was not, transferred to the Nuclear Fuels Company or to the Radiochemical Company by virtue of this Act, or that any rights, liabilities or obligations of the Authority specified in the certificate were, or were not, so transferred, shall be conclusive evidence of the matters stated in the certificate.

• (6) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (7) Before ... issuing any certificate under this section in relation to any matter the Secretary of State shall consult the Authority and the companies, if all three of them are affected by that matter, or, if only two of them are affected by it, shall consult those two; and on ... issuing any certificate under this section the Secretary of State shall send a copy of it to each of those bodies which is affected by it.

• (8) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supplementary provisions relating to transfers

6

• (1) In addition to any matter which by or under any of the preceding provisions of this Act is excepted from paragraph (b) of section 1(1) or from paragraph (b) of section 2(1) of this Act, there are excepted from those paragraphs any rights, liabilities or obligations of the Authority under—

• (a) any contract of employment;

• (b) any agreement for the rendering by a person of services to the Authority on his capacity as a member of the Authority; or

• (c) any pension scheme or agreement relating to a pension scheme.

• (2) Where immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of section 1 or section 2 of this Act there is in force an agreement which—

• (a) confers or imposes on the Authority any rights, liabilities or obligations which are transferred to one of the companies by virtue of that section, and

• (b) refers (in whatever terms and whether expressly or by implication) to a member or officer of the Authority,

the agreement shall have effect, in relation to anything falling to be done on or after that day, as if for that reference there were substituted a reference to such person as that company may appoint or, in default of such appointment, to the officer of that company who corresponds as nearly as may be to the member or officer of the Authority in question.

• (3) Where any right, liability or obligation is transferred to one of the companies by virtue of this Act, that company and all other persons shall, on and after the day on which it is so transferred, have the same rights, powers and remedies (and, in particular, the same rights as to the taking or resisting of legal proceedings) for ascertaining, perfecting or enforcing that right, liability or obligation as they would have had if it had at all times been a right, liability or obligation of the company....

• (4) In subsection (3) of this section any reference to legal proceedings shall be construed as including a reference to any application to an authority, and any reference to the taking or resisting of legal proceedings shall be construed accordingly.

Issue of shares in consideration of transfers

7

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Provisions as to employees

Employees in transferred parts of undertaking

8

• (1) Subject to the following provisions of this section

• (a) every person who, immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of section 1 of this Act, is an employee of the Authority engaged in that part of the Authority’s undertaking which is transferred by virtue of that section shall on that day by virtue of this subsection cease to be employed by the Authority and become an employee of the Nuclear Fuels Company, and

• (b) every person who, immediately before the day which is the appointed day for the purposes of section 2 of this Act, is an employee of the Authority engaged in that part of the Authority’s undertaking which is transferred by virtue of that section shall on that day by virtue of this subsection cease to be employed by the Authority and become an employee of the Radiochemical Company;

and in the following provisions of this section and in sections 9, 10 and 20 of this Act “the date of transfer”, in relation to any such person, means the day on which, by virtue of paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) of this subsection, he becomes an employee of the Nuclear Fuels Company or of the Radiochemical Company, as the case may be.

• (2) Paragraph (a) of subsection (1) of this section shall not have effect in relation to any person who, immediately before the day referred to in that paragraph, is employed as a member of the Authority’s constabulary.

• (3) Where by virtue of subsection (1) of this section a person becomes an employee of one of the companies, then, subject to the following provisions of this section, he shall be deemed to be employed by that company on the terms and conditions appropriate to him immediately after the transfer, and a contract consisting of those terms and conditions shall be deemed to be in force between him and that company accordingly until it is duly terminated by notice or otherwise.

• (4) For the purposes of this section, in relation to a person who by virtue of subsection (1) of this section becomes an employee of one of the companies, the terms and conditions appropriate to him immediately after the transfer shall be taken to be such terms and conditions as correspond, as nearly as the circumstances permit, to those which immediately before the date of transfer applied to him under his contract of employment with the Authority.

• (5) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (6) Nothing in subsection (3) ... of this section shall have effect in relation to an employee in respect of any time after the contract deemed to be in force between him and one of the companies by virtue of subsection (3) of this section has been superseded by a new contract of employment made between him and the company; and nothing in those subsections shall be construed as preventing a contract so deemed to be in force from being varied by agreement between the employer and the employee.

Machinery for settling terms and conditions of employment

9

• (1) It shall be the duty of each of the companies to seek consultation with any organisation appearing to them to be appropriate, with a view to the conclusion between the company and that organisation of such agreements as appear to the parties to be desirable with respect to the establishment and maintenance of machinery for—

• (a) the settlement by negotiation of terms and conditions of employment of persons employed by the company, with provision for reference to arbitration, in default of such settlement, of such cases as may be determined by or under the agreements, and

• (b) the promotion and encouragement of measures affecting the safety, health and welfare of persons employed by the company and (so far as in the opinion of the company considerations of national security permit) the discussion of other matters of mutual interest to the company and their employees, including efficiency in the work of the company.

• (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Supplementary provisions relating to contracts of employment

10

• (1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• (2) Where section 8(1) of this Act has effect in relation to an employee of the Authority, and immediately before the date of transfer sections 1 to 4 of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978 (written particulars of terms of employment) does not apply to him by virtue of section 5 of the said Act of 1978 (which relates to employees whose contracts have been reduced to writing)—

• (a) sections 1 to 7 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 shall not apply to him as an employee of the Nuclear Fuels Company or of the Radiochemical Company, as the case may be, until such time as the contract deemed to be in force between him and that company by virtue of section 8(3) of this Act is superseded by a new contract of employment made between him and the company, but

• (b) when the contract so deemed to be in force is superseded by a new contract as mentioned in the preceding paragraph, the company (unless exempted by the Employment Rights Act 1996 apart from this subsection) shall give to him a written statement under section 1 of that Act not more than one month after the making of that new contract.