Scores of workers at the UK Atomic Energy Authority will transfer to a private company after its commercial arm was sold in a £50m deal.

The authority has agreed the sale of the entirety of its wholly-owned nuclear decommissioning business UKAEA Limited to defence and energy support services firm Babcock International.

The business, which employs about 95 people at Harwell out of 230 spread across three UK sites, oversees nuclear clean-up work and offers consultancy services in international markets.

Chairman Lady Judge said: “The new ownership structure will help give UKAEA Limited greater commercial focus on its operations, allowing it to capitalise on its core skills, strong track record and brand.

“I am confident it will continue its growth in the UK and internationally under Babcock International's ownership.”

Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, added: "Today's announcement is good news for UKAEA and its employees.

"The sale will allow the company, as part of Babcock International, to continue its development and take advantage of new opportunities in the nuclear industry. It also generates good value for the taxpayer."

Babcock chief executive Peter Rogers added: "The high level of skills and expertise in UKAEA will further accelerate the growth of our nuclear business."

The sale of UKAEA, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year, is the first of its kind under a Government efficiency programme and follows a decision by the authority to build up its commercial arm to a point at which it could operate independently.

The UKAEA sell-off has attracted criticism from the Conservatives, who questioned its timing and raised fears that it could be motivated from a short-term need to boost the battered public finances during the recession.

As well as Harwell, UKAEA is handling decommissioning work for the Nuclear Decommissioning Agency at Dounreay in Scotland and Winfrith in Dorset. It also has offices in Warrington and Cumbria.

UKAEA generated revenues of £32m in the year to March.

UKAEA’s former parent company the UK Atomic Energy Authority remains a joint venture partner in the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus with property developer Goodman that is set to create 5,000 jobs over the next 20 years.

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority was originally set up in Harwell in 1948. The environmental consultancy arm of the business, AEA Technology, which employs about 1,000 people, became a private company in 1999.