The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

11 January 2008

The Government’s announcement on a new programme of nuclear power stations raises some important questions for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

The NDA owns 11 nuclear power station sites of which two, Wylfa in Anglesey and Oldbury in Gloucestershire, are still operating.

The NDA’s primary function is to safely and cost-effectively oversee the decommissioning and clean-up of all the sites under its ownership, as well as to deal effectively with large stocks of nuclear materials and wastes.

The NDA also has a responsibility to maximise the commercial value of its assets on behalf of the UK taxpayer in order to offset the costs of the decommissioning programme. This could be through making land available to utilities and other organisations, or exploring the potential value of the stocks of nuclear materials in its possession.

We know from the extensive consultation we have conducted with our communities on their preferred end state for each of our sites that, for example, the communities around Sellafield and Wylfa have a considerable interest in maintaining economic prosperity through new nuclear build.

We also know from contact with the energy industry that there is considerable interest in how the NDA’s assets could play a role in a new build programme.

The Government has set out in the White Paper that it will be carrying out a Strategy Siting Assessment (SSA) to assess the suitability of sites for new nuclear build. This is expected to commence soon and, we understand, will take around 18 months to complete. Without prejudging the outcome of the SSA, the NDA, in order to decide upon the strategy for future use of its sites and land around its sites, will in due course invite proposals which meet its strategic objectives and maximise value for money for the UK taxpayer.

The NDA will be detailing its process and timescales on this website in the near future.