?6B in Lifecycle Cost Increases at Sellafield Expected, NDA Tells Parliament

Lifecycle cleanup costs at the U.K.’s Sellafield site have risen by more than £6 billion ($10.2 billion) from last year’s estimate, according to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s annual financial report to Parliament available here. The current undiscounted cost left to complete Sellafield stands at £79.1 billion, but is expected to rise by £5.4 billion under a new performance plan and an additional £0.7 billion due to accounting changes. “At Sellafield the Performance Plan 2014 has been submitted by Sellafield but is still being scrutinised by NDA so whilst the provision has increased due to known project costs it is anticipated that the provision will increase significantly next year once the impact of the Performance Plan 2014 is known,” the report states. “This is not a surprise to the NDA and whilst in many ways it is disappointing it is to be expected due to the nature of the projects at Sellafield.”

 

The NDA has also reviewed a number of scenarios for outcomes at Sellafield and has put the total estimated cost at a range from £88 billion to £ 218 billion. The lifecycle cost for the rest of the NDA has “remained relatively stable over the past couple of years,” the report states, and now stands at about £31.2 billion. After recent scrutiny by Parliament on rising costs and the management at Sellafield, the NDA is striving for improved performance. “We have noted the Public Accounts Committee’s concern about the importance of providing transparency to the taxpayer over the full range of possible costs of the NDA’s mission and have been working to provide a better estimate of the range which we are publishing in our Accounts,” NDA CEO John Clarke said in a statement.