The Government must share the blame for the bungling of a multi-billion pound nuclear clean-up contract after failing to protect taxpayers from spiraling costs, MPs have said. In a damning report the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) accused the Government of being “culpable” in the collapse of a contract to clean up Britain’s redundant fleet of Magnox nuclear reactors. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s £6.1bn deal was aborted almost a year ago after it bungled how the 14 year contract was awarded to the Cavendish Fluor Partnership (CFP) formed by Babcock and Fluor. The botched award led to a two year High Court legal battle which effectively put taxpayers on the hook to pay £122m in compensation to companies who bid for the Magnox work but failed to get it. The committee’s report blamed the NDA for running “an overly complex procurement process” which ultimately ended nine years early. The NDA also drastically under-estimated the scale of the work needed to decommission the sites at the time it awarded the contract, the report said. The PAC said the debacle had caused “untold reputational damage” to the NDA, but it added that the Government must share the blame for approving the authority’s approach. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, the committee’s deputy chair, branded the contract “an appalling piece of mismanagement and financial waste” which had cost the taxpayer over £122m. The committee has asked the NDA to update MPs within three months on its investigation into whether it overpaid its previous contractor and, if so, how it planned to recover money.
Telegraph 28th Feb 2018 read more »
The Government has been accused of being “culpable” for failures over a nuclear clean-up contract that cost the taxpayer up to £122 million. The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) published a damning report into a contract to clean up the Magnox nuclear reactor and research sites. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was accused of failing in both the procurement and management of the contract, which was awarded to the wrong bidder after an “overly complex” procurement process.
Energy Voice 28th Feb 2018 read more »
CATALOGUE of “appalling” mismanagement costing hundreds of millions of pounds in taxpayers’ cash has been revealed by an investigation into the government’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The NDA handed out contracts to private firms for the decommissioning of 11 ageing Magnox nuclear reactors in British power stations, including Sellafield in Cumbria and Hinkley A in Somerset.
Morning Star 28th Feb 2018 read more »
New Civil Engineer 28th Feb 2018 read more »