Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 11
11
Accepted
Sellafield Ltd plans significant acceleration of waste retrieval, requiring substantial capability development over next few years.
Conclusion
Sellafield Ltd has shown that it is technically possible to retrieve waste from all of its oldest ponds and silos.25 The plan to make the site less hazardous assumes that it will be able to significantly accelerate the speed it works at over the next few years – and then sustain that pace until tasks are completed. This was described to us by the NDA as “being able to crawl before we can walk, and then walk before we can run”. Sellafield Ltd told us that it expects the teams removing waste from the ‘Pile Fuel Cladding Silo’ to remove at least three times as much waste in 2025–26 as they did in 2024–25 (and ideally, five times as much).26 It also expects to remove significantly more waste from the ‘Magnox Swarf Storage Silo’ from the early 2030s (potentially retrieving 24 times as much as it did in 2023–24 by the middle of that decade). Sellafield Ltd told us that its focus over the 20 Qq 42–47, 69 21 Letter from the Group Chief Executive Officer at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 March on Decommissioning Sellafield, 4 April 2025, pages 1–2 22 Q 12 23 Q 84 24 C&AG’s report, Figure 9 25 Q 20 26 Qq 14–15 11 next few years will be on developing the capability to do this (including installing additional machinery to retrieve waste and finishing building the ‘Box Encapsulation Plant’ elsewhere on the site).27
Government Response Summary
The government agrees, stating the NDA will develop a consistent planning approach for all operating companies, delivering revised whole-life, corporate, and operating plans by March 2027. Additionally, DESNZ will commission an independent review of the NDA Group by end-2025 to assess strategic planning, project delivery, and financial management.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
2.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: March 2027 2.2 Currently there are mission-length plans spanning 100+ years for each Operating Company (OpCo) within the NDA group. These reflect the best estimate of key activities that need to be completed and/or new capabilities that need to be constructed to deliver the mission. The costs of delivering the plans are used to construct the nuclear provision. The approach to the construction of the plans varies significantly as they were initially developed by the previous Parent Body Organisations operating the sites. 2.3 NDA will develop, under its annual target on Group Strategic Planning, a consistent planning approach for short, medium and long-term planning horizons, to unify the plans across the estate, enabling stronger integration between the OpCos and strengthening the Group planning capability. It will deliver revised whole-life plans, 20-year corporate plans, and 5-year operating plans for each OpCo. 2.4 The NDA will define the outcomes to be delivered and the associated medium-term milestones/targets to enable continual monitoring of delivery performance at OpCo and group levels and inform management actions to maintain plan delivery within strategic tolerances. In addition, the NDA will set out what actions will be needed, including clear milestones, to achieve a completely decommissioned site. 2.5 Once the medium-term targets and long-term actions have been determined and agreed they will be reported on annually through the Sellafield Ltd Executive and Board and the NDA. Work is required to establish how and then when this information would be made public, considering existing NDA public reporting mechanisms, such as the NDA Annual Report and Accounts, Strategy and Business Plan. 2.6 In addition, DESNZ will commission by end-2025 an independent and externally led review of the NDA Group. This review will consider strategic planning and management to optimise Value for Money, project and programme delivery, financial management and the potential value of providing the NDA with longer-term financing and freedoms.