Nuclear Management Partners is “surprised” at the decision by the U.K. government announced yesterday that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority will take over management of the Sellafield site from NMP. Under the new plan, ownership of Sellafield Ltd. will revert from NMP to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority over a transition period expected to take 12 to 15 months. “We are surprised and naturally disappointed, especially in light of the considerable progress made at Sellafield since NMP was awarded the contract in 2008,” NMP General Manager Iain Irving said in a statement. “NDA has made it very clear that it is the contractual model that it is being revised and has acknowledged the progress made by NMP over the last six years.”
In October 2013, the NDA decided on a five-year extension to NMP’s contract, which could run up to 17 years in total. However, the NDA emphasized that it could terminate the contract early if improvements aren’t undertaken. But NMP said significant progress has been achieved since the contract extension. “The last 12 months have seen some of the Site’s highest levels of performance, whilst over the last two years we have consecutively achieved the Site’s best overall safety records,” Irving said.
Member of Parliament Jamie Reed, who represents the Sellafield area, said the move “must bring decision-making regarding Sellafield site-operations closer to the local community and workforce,” according to a statement Reed released yesterday. “Too often, decisions relating to the site and the community were taken remotely, where the consequences of those decisions could not be felt. This was an unacceptable situation for the local community and the UK taxpayer; Sellafield cannot be managed remotely.”
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