Decommissioning Britain’s first generation of atomic reactors is likely to be brought back “in-house” by the UK nuclear clean-up agency after the collapse of a £6.2bn outsourcing contract that exposed “fundamental failures” at the organisation. Ministers have been considering whether the work, involving 12 Magnox nuclear plants and research sites, should be offered to another private contractor or run directly by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. A final decision has not yet been made but industry figures with knowledge of the process said the most likely outcome was for the NDA to create a new subsidiary to take control of the Magnox clean-up programme. Such an outcome would bring an end to an embarrassing episode in which Greg Clark, business secretary, in March cancelled a deal with Cavendish Fluor Partnership, a joint venture between UK-based Babcock International and Fluor of the US, at a cost of £122m to British taxpayers.
FT 15th Oct 2017 read more »
