The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has this week published its 2013-16 Business Plan which sets out its delivery priorities for the period as it continues to focus on accelerating hazard reduction across its 19-site estate.
The focus at Sellafield will remain on driving forward further progress across the site including a programme of major projects required to decommission the high hazard legacy ponds and silos, while also working towards the completion of the contracts at both the Magnox and Thorp reprocessing plants by the end of the decade.
Key activities across the rest of the NDA estate in 2013/14 will include the selection of a new owner of the contract to operate the 12 sites in the NDA's Magnox and Research Site Restoration Limited (RSRL) fleet. Defueling will continue at Oldbury and Sizewell A, with electricity generation continuing at Wylfa. An accelerated programme of decommissioning and demolition activities will continue at Bradwell and Trawsfynydd in preparation for the sites to be placed into the care and maintenance phase in 2015 and 2016 respectively. The authority will spend a total of £3.2bn on cleaning up Britain's nuclear legacy during the next financial year with 55% of the annual budget to be spent on reducing hazard at Sellafield; the NDA's number one priority.
NDA chief executive John Clarke said: "Our 2013-16 Business Plan sets out a challenging year of activity across our estate as we seek to accelerate our programme to reduce hazard and deliver value for money for the taxpayer.
"Sellafield remains our number one priority, particularly ensuring the site remains safe and secure and that we are able to make demonstrable progress in tackling the high hazard legacy facilities.
"We are determined to ensure that progress is also maintained across the rest of our estate including Dounreay where we will see the continued development of a number of major projects that will move the site even closer to an interim end state.
"These record levels of expenditure reflect a sustained commitment by the Government to clearing up Britain's nuclear legacy."
The 2013-16 Business plan can be found at -
http://www.nda.gov.uk/documents/upload/NDA-Business-Plan-2013-2016.pdf
Dounreay - Current Key Milestones -
2014 – LLW facilities commence operations
2017 – Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) All liquid metal residues destroyed
2018 – Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) liquid metal residues destroyed
2020 – All material for disposal removed from shaft 2021 – PFR dismantled
2022-25 – Interim State achieved in this time frame
