The government agency responsible for mishandling a major nuclear cleanup contract –costing the state more than £122m – has been severely criticised by Whitehall’s spending watchdog. A National Audit Office inquiry into a bungled £6.2bn contract to dispose of material from 12 different nuclear sites has questioned whether the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is capable of understanding procurement rules. The head of the NDA has apologised for “past mistakes” after the contract collapsed, leading to multimillion pound payouts to firms cut out of deal. The NAO report published on Wednesday also criticised the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s oversight of the contract. MP Meg Hillier, chair of the public accounts committee, said: “The NDA was badly mistaken about the work it needed to do on its sites when it let this contract, and has had to cancel it nine years early. It now has to start again from scratch.
Guardian 11th Oct 2017 read more »
Ministers must confront “fundamental failures” by the UK’s nuclear decommissioning body that have caused the loss of at least £122m of taxpayers’ money, the public spending watchdog has said. The National Audit Office accused the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of bungling a £6.2bn contract — one of the largest awarded by the UK government — to dismantle 12 Magnox nuclear sites and criticised Whitehall oversight of the deal. The business department, led by Greg Clark, knew for two years that changes to the contract would have “significant cost implications,” but “did not make itself sufficiently aware of the scale” of budget overruns, the NAO said in a report.
FT 10th Oct 2017 read more »
A catalogue of errors in awarding a contract to clean up 12 UK nuclear sites ended up costing the taxpayer £122m, official auditors have found. The deal to decommission the ageing Magnox sites was originally intended to last 14 years, but was cut short after legal challenges by unsuccessful firms. Now the National Audit Office has found “fundamental failures” in the way the process was handled by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
BBC 11th Oct 2017 read more »
Energy Voice 11th Oct 2017 read more »
Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News 11th Oct 2017 read more »
Lucky it’s only nuclear waste. Imagine the fallout if a government body had screwed up the contract for something important: BBC salaries, say, or Big Ben’s bong. Instead, there’s been a Magnox meltdown. And all courtesy of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the outfit monstered in the latest National Audit Office report. It’s tricky to know where to start in this tale of “fundamental failures” — and one that’s cost the taxpayer “upwards of £122 million”, on the bean counters’ estimates.
The Times 11th Oct 2017 read more »
