Select committee: Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 8
28th Report - Decommissioning Sellafield
Published 4 Jun 2025
Addressed to HM Treasury
Public Accounts Committee Decommissioning Sellafield All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Recommendation (the committee's words)
Since 2020, Sellafield Ltd has missed most of its operational targets for retrieving waste, and turning liquid waste into a glass–like substance (both of which reduce the hazard the waste poses).12 It told us that the COVID–19 pandemic had had a big impact – particularly on the facility which turns highly active waste into glass. This facility stopped processing waste for a period of time and maintenance tasks were not carried out, leading to a number of issues with the equipment, some of which have still not been resolved. Some experienced operators decided to retire, and Sellafield Ltd found it difficult to train their replacements as it could not provide ‘on the job’ training in periods when the facility was not operating.13 Sellafield Ltd also told us that it had made less progress with retrieving waste from the ‘Magnox Swarf Storage Silo’ because of problems with getting newly–installed equipment to work effectively in an older building – including issues with how cranes were powered.14 We were, however, pleased to hear that it achieved its 2024–25 target for removing waste from its other silo, the ‘Pile Fuel Cladding Silo’.15
From: Public Accounts Committee, 28th Report - Decommissioning Sellafield (HC 363), 4 June 2025
Government response
Latest Treasury Minutes progress report to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-eighth Report of Session 2024-26
The government responded to the whole report on 4 June 2026 (deadline 4 August 2025).
Treasury minutes: Government response to the Committee of Public Accounts on the Twenty-eighth report from Session 2024-26
Published 18 September 2025.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government says it agrees with each of the Committee's recommendations covered in this extract, with target implementation dates ranging from December 2025 to March 2027, though some are already implemented and some publication details remain to be settled.
- On oversight (recommendation 1), the government agrees and describes the recommendation as implemented. Since January 2025 the department's Principal Sponsor chairs monthly performance meetings, and a review of the revised governance structure will be initiated within 2025-26.
- On medium-term targets (recommendation 2), the government agrees, with a target date of March 2027. Work "is required to establish how and then when this information would be made public", and DESNZ will commission an independent, externally led review of the NDA Group by end-2025.
- On asset management (recommendation 4), the government agrees and says the recommendation is implemented. It states that "Solely increasing the productivity of maintenance teams misses the demands" of the site's complex asset picture.
- On long-term cost scenarios (recommendation 5), the government agrees, with a target date of December 2026. It says "It will be necessary to agree the mechanism and timing, including what is published".