January 25, 2016

NDA Looks for More Efficiency at Sellafield

By ExchangeMonitor

Though Sellafield Ltd. has secured a £2 billion budget for 2016-17, the operator of the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing and decommissioning site said recently that it will need to find further financial efficiency in order deliver the work it has planned for the upcoming year.

The United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) granted the budget request in its government spending review, which was published this month as part of the NDA’s draft business plan. The agency manages cleanup of 17 sites — 14 in England and Wales and three in Scotland. Sellafield’s 2016-17 budget represents a 5 percent increase from the current financial year’s £1.9 billion. The budget year begins in April.

“This level of funding for Sellafield reflects tremendous support from government and this will enable us to make vital progress on cleaning up the high hazard facilities at Sellafield, particularly the legacy ponds and silos,” NDA CEO John Clarke said in a Jan. 21 statement. “But we have made an unequivocal commitment to government that in return we will expect Sellafield Ltd to place the greatest possible emphasis on value for money.”

On April 1 the NDA will take over Sellafield Ltd. in an effort to streamline management of the site and remove bureaucratic hurdles, according to the Jan. 21 announcement. Located in Cumbria, England, Sellafield accounts for 60 percent of the total NDA budget.

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