NUCLEAR energy company BNFL, which owns Sellafield, has reported annual losses of £303m after seeing costs increase at its operations.

BNFL chief executive Michael Parker said it was disappointing, but said the financial position of the business was about to change dramatically as a new company is created to take care of decommissioning.

The company said nuclear clean-up activities had increased costs at Sellafield, in Cumbria.

Start-up costs for the long-debated Mox plant at the Sellafield complex also affected costs.

BNFL said more than £500m had been spent on discharging historic nuclear liabilities during the 12 months to March 31, and said that its safety record during the year had been the best in its history.