The U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority yesterday released its draft 2014 to 2017 business plan for comment, outlining the cleanup agency’s budgets and objectives for the coming years. The Authority plans to spend £3.2 billion ($5.2 billion) in 2014/2015, of which £1.8 billion ($3 billion) will go to work at the Sellafield site. “As I have said in the past, Sellafield is by far the most complex and challenging site in our portfolio,” NDA Chief Executive John Clarke said in a statement. “During 2014/2015 we expect to see continuing progress on the downstream plants in supporting the preparations for retrievals of hazardous wastes within Legacy Ponds and Silos, one of the most complicated areas we are tackling at the site. We will continue to monitor performance closely and remain focused on achieving our goal of safe, effective, value for money decommissioning at Sellafield.”
The plan also notes that the NDA plans to select a preferred bidder in March for management of its Magnox and research reactor sites, with a transfer to take place in September. The contract is expected to add up to £6 billion to £7 billion ($9.8 billion to $11.5 billion) over 14 years. The comment period for the plan is open until Jan. 24, and will be finalized and published in March pending approval from the U.K. and Scottish governments.
