Michael Parker
Ex-Dow Man to Head

BNFL RICHARD ADAMS / The Guardian (UK) 23jun03

BNFL, the troubled state-owned nuclear fuels processor, is expected to name a new chief executive who has been headhunted from the US. Michael Parker, the former head of Dow Chemical, is tipped to be head of BNFL, filling the position left vacant since the resignation of Norman Askew earlier this year.

The appointment of Mr Parker, who was born in Britain, is expected to be the main subject of a meeting today between the BNFL chairman, Hugh Collum, and Patricia Hewitt, the trade and industry secretary.

Image from AP photo 2001

Mr Parker was Dow Chemical's president and chief executive from 2000 until December last year, when he stepped aside after the company reported a set of disappointing financial results. He spent 34 years working at the company, starting in 1968.

During Mr Parker's tenure at Dow, he presided over the acquisition of the Union Carbide chemical company - attracting the ire of protesters recalling Union Carbide's 1984 disaster, when a toxic leak from the company's factory in Bhopal, India, eventually killed 14,000 people and cost the company $470m in settlement payouts.

Mr Parker's decision to leave Dow came as the company suffered weak sales and performance in the second half of 2002, reporting a fourth-quarter loss of nearly £500m. He left Dow in February this year, with a £3.4m payoff.

At BNFL, Mr Parker would be taking over a company facing faltering demand for electricity and responsible for six ageing Magnox nuclear power reactors.

The new chief executive's major tasks will include negotiations with the nuclear decommissioning authority, which has been handed the task of cleaning up the UK's civil nuclear liabilities.

BNFL's Magnox generators and Sellafield site will be transferred to the NDA, with the authority being responsible for an estimated £48bn worth of decommissioning.