The clean-up of the nuclear estate is a key priority for both the Scottish and United Kingdom governments.
Dounreay's decommissioning is well established with the site due to reach an interim end state by the early 2030s.
An inevitable consequence of making progress is that jobs will gradually reduce. With a number of projects due to be completed and a different mix of skills required for the next phase of work, some staff are being given the opportunity to volunteer for redundancy. Around 10-15% of staff are expected to be allowed to leave under voluntary arrangements during the next year or so.
Safety, security and the environment remain our highest priorities and this will not be permitted to distract from, or impact on, those.
Workforce reductions have long been prepared for with more than £10 million invested by Dounreay and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in strategic socio-economic projects in the last decade and more to follow. This has helped leverage more than £35 million of additional funding, which is creating new and sustainable jobs in Caithness and North Sutherland.
The company will work with trade unions and other stakeholders to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and with respect throughout the process.
In a letter issued on 12th April 2017 Phil Craid, Managing Director of Dounreay says "Our expectation is that we wil reduce the work force by around 200 roles in the next year or so, which will include up to 150 DSRL employees leaving under voluntary arrangements with the remainder from the agency and contract workforce largely associated with projects which are due to end. The final number will be dependent on factors including, but not limited to the amount of volunteers, cost and business need."
