The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The new Authority will begin operation in April 2005, and will take-over the ownership of all nuclear sites currently run by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) and the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). 

The NDA aims to introduce competition into the nuclear decommissioning and clean-up market and by so doing speed up the decommissioning process, and capitalise on the huge potential for cost savings. Whilst faster and cheaper decommissioning might be a laudable aim, it must be carried out according to a clear set of environmental principles. According to The Times, accelerating decommissioning will help the nuclear industry make a case for building new nuclear reactors.

Unfortunately,  as well as clean-up, the NDA will also operate installations that create waste - thus adding to the problem it is supposedly being set up to solve. For example, the NDA will  run  BNFL's ageing, loss-making Magnox reactors, plus two spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plants and a MOX plant at Sellafield. 

In a major departure from the original plan, the Government is proposing to use the NDA to fund the bailout of the failed private nuclear company British Energy, and indeed any other future private nuclear operator.

There are also concerns that the legislation is worded so that the NDA might even be able to build nuclear power plants to burn plutonium fuel created at Sellafield. This could have major safety and security implications.

The Energy Bill, which will establish a new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), has no overriding environmental principles. This could lead to:

• inappropriate methods of nuclear waste management being promoted

• decommissioning being used as an excuse for increased discharges of radioactivity to the environment

• a failure to prioritise the most hazardous waste

• unnecessary transfers of nuclear waste from one site to another.

We believe the NDA should only deal with 'legacy' wastes. It should be given a clearly defined objective, underscored with best environmental and organisational principles, including duties to avoid or minimise waste creation and a statutory duty to consult all stakeholders and the public at large. The NDA could then gain wide public confidence, and begin the long job of cleaning up the nuclear mess the government and nuclear industry has created in the UK.

The Energy Act 2004 (http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/20040020.htm) received Royal Assent in July 2004.

The Government’s White Paper, on the plans for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, “Managing the Nuclear Legacy, A Strategy for Action!” (pdf) is available on the Department of Trade and Industry’s website.

Several other useful documents on Managing the Nuclear Legacy are available on the DTI website, and the NDA now has its own website (http://www.nda.gov.uk/). Its first Draft Annual Plan can be viewed at http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/nda_annual_plan_-_final_draft_for_consultation_revb.pdf (pdf).