The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

We are a non-departmental public body, established under the Energy Act 2004. We are responsible for the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's civil public sector nuclear sites. Our sponsoring Government department is the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) which approves our strategy, plans and budget. We also report to the Scottish Ministers who agree our strategy and plans for Scottish sites.

We are responsible for

• developing UK-wide nuclear Low Level Waste (LLW) strategy and plans;
• the long-term management arrangements for the UK's higher radioactive wastes; and
• 19 former UKAEA and BNFL sites.

More information on our mission

More information on our approach

How We Operate

We do not directly manage the sites for which we are responsible. Instead we contract out the delivery of site programmes through management and operation contracts with licensed operators, Site Licence Companies (SLCs), at each site.

SLCs manage sites, including preparing site plans, performing and sub-contracting work. Parent Body Organisations (PBOs) own shares in SLCs for the duration of their contract with the NDA. The PBO is responsible for managing the delivery of site programmes. The contracts with PBOs are periodically competed.

More information on competitions

More information on sites

Our Budget

The Department of Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and the Treasury set our annual operational budget. Our budget is a combination of Government grant-in-aid and income from our commercial assets.

For 2008/9 the annual budget was agreed at £2,855.0 million comprised of:

• £1,536.8 million Government grant-in-aid; and
• £1,318.2 million projected income.

The NDA's annual expenditure for 2007/8 is expected to be:

• £2,594.0 million on our site programme; and
• £261.0 million on non-site activities, including:
• • support for skills;
  • research and development;
  • insurance; and
  • pension costs.

Our planned total expenditure for the following years is:

• 2009/10 £2,817.8 million
• 2010/11 £2,784.6 million

More information on lifetime financials for each site

Our Location

In addition to our headquarters at Herdus House in West Cumbria, we have a network of offices across the UK. These offices work with Site Licence Companies (SLCs) and are located in:

• Harwell;
• Warrington;
• Sellafield; and
• Thurso.

A small London office provides a central location for direct liaison with Government officials.

More information on our people