The NDA are now responsible for decommissioning on all UK public sector nuclear sites

With a budget of £2billion per year the NDA and its contracting regime will mean the biggest shake up in the nuclear industry since its inception. The NDA was set up by the Government under the Energy Act 2004 and is now responsible for the nuclear facilities currently managed by BNFL and UKAEA including former research facilities, nuclear fuel reprocessing plants, waste disposal facilities and Magnox nuclear power stations.

The NDA will not carry out the decommissioning work itself but has contracted out the work initially to BNFL and UKAEA. These contracts, albeit in a somewhat different form, will be subject to fair and open tender from suitably qualified organisations in the future.

The decommissioning work, at all of the sites, will be carried out by the licensees (now contractors) in accordance with the annual work plans and five year strategies developed by the NDA. The authority will be responsible for paying the contractors for the work and ensuring the taxpayer is receiving value for money. An incentive scheme will be in place to reward contractors for achieving set targets and goals on time.

The NDA will work with the site contractors to promote best practice and share experience and knowledge on the decommissioning processes. It may fund scientific research when it is relevant to the clean up process.

Preparatory work to establish the NDA has been underway for almost a year. This has included appointing a Chairman, Chief Executive and Board including publicly appointed non-executive directors. Executive directors, who will lead a total staff of, ultimately, about 250, mainly based at the authority's headquarters in West Cumbria, have also been recruited. Staff recruitment is underway and about half of its employees were in place for the launch on 1 April.

NIA welcomed the launch of the NDA and looks forward to working closely with the Authority over the coming years.

The House of Commons Trade and Industry Committee has recently conducted an enquiry into the NDA. The committee heard oral evidence from BNFL and UKAEA as well as the DTI and the NDA itself. Chairing what would turn out to be his last meeting of the select committee, Martin O'Neill MP conducted a wide ranging hearing covering the NDA's contracting arrangements, safety, financing, skills and the handling of waste. This was a far reaching enquiry which examined all aspects of the NDA's establishment and operation and has included written evidence from many interested parties (including NIA). The report will be published later this year.