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The Government has published its long awaited Energy Bill, which has three parts. The first of which deals with the civil nuclear industry including the establishment of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
The majority of amendments to the Energy Bill proposed at the Lords Committee Stage concern the proposals for the NDA. The amendments are currently being considered as part of a general discussion of issues that they raise, a process that is likely to continue until around the end of February. Voting on specific amendments to the Bill will happen at the Report Stage which follows. Conservatives Baroness Miller of Hendon, Baroness Byford and Lord Jenkin together with Lord Beaumont (Green) have proposed an important new clause setting out the commercial obligations of the NDA. This clause places a duty on the NDA to continue to operate commercially viable plant and to justify any proposed closure decision in economic terms. It also gives it a duty to keep nuclear sites available for reuse and to maintain the skills base of the industry. (NIA proposed similar amendments based on its submission to the Government's consultation on the draft Bill). There are a few significant amendments that seek to give the NDA the duty to plan, build and operate a new generation of nuclear power stations, this issue was also raised during the Bill's second reading. These vary from an amendment from Labour Peers Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe and Lord Lea which allows the NDA to do this if instructed by the Secretary of State; to a detailed new clause from Conservative Peers Baroness Miller of Hendon, Baroness Byford and Lord Jenkin together with Lord Beaumont (Green) which sets out the precise mechanism that the NDA should use to achieve this. Liberal Democrat Peers Lord Ezra and Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer have put in several amendments. The most significant of which is to add new objectives for the NDA, which confine its role to environmental protection and the avoidance of the creation of fresh nuclear waste. This clause in conjunction with several other amendments also seeks to ensure that companies which produce waste pay the NDA for its clean up. They are also seeking to reduce the Secretary of State's powers to vary the legislation without Parliamentary authorisation. Lord Jenkin and Baroness Miller of Hendon have also tabled several amendments that seek to protect the commercial interests of contracting companies under the NDA so that commercially confidential material is not released as part of the reporting regime. They have also proposed that the NDA be allowed to borrow commercially. Several amendments have also been put in by Conservative peers to protect the skills base of the industry and ensure a research and development funding stream. Lord Maclennan (Liberal Democrat), Lord Brooke of Alverthorpe (Labour) and Lord Lea (Labour) have tabled a series of amendments aimed at strengthening the rights of and consultation with current and former employees in the industry over their pension rights. The same members have also tabled an amendment to ensure that the economic well being of local communities is taken into account in the decommissioning process. It is expected that the Bill will complete its Lords stages by Easter and become law around July. |
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