Consultation outcome

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority: Draft Business Plan 2024 to 2027 for consultation

Updated 23 April 2024

Preface

The NDA group is responsible for one of the most important environmental programmes in the world, protecting people and the planet. We are a government-funded body responsible for safely and securely decommissioning the UK’s former nuclear sites and overcoming the challenges of managing and disposing of nuclear waste. With a workforce of 17,000 across 17 sites, our employees make up one of the most knowledgeable and experienced nuclear workforces in the world. How we go about our work is very important to us and we are committed to delivering our mission safely and responsibly, with care for communities and the environment, ensuring our actions and decisions continue to deliver a positive and long-lasting legacy for future generations.

Engaging openly and transparently on our work is important to us. This Business Plan is one of several publications which we create and consult on every year. In line with Energy Act (2004) requirements, it sets out the activities that will take place over the next three years to advance our important clean-up and decommissioning work and operate our facilities safely and securely. It shows anticipated funding for each of the businesses for 2024/25. We show how the activities are helping to deliver our mission by aligning them to the 47 Strategic Outcomes identified in our Strategy and Mission Progress Report. We also include key work across our range of critical enablers vital to the delivery of the mission.

How we communicate our strategy and report progress

Engage with our stakeholders

NDA Strategy 

Twelve week public consultation every five years.

Describes how we will deliver our mission, ensuring that the UK’s nuclear legacy sites are decommissioned and cleaned up safely, securely, cost-effectively and in ways that protect people and the environment.

Energy Act (2004) requirement. Covers 100+ years. Published every five years.

Report progress

Mission Progress Report 

Provides our stakeholders with a clear and concise story of NDA mission progress since 2005, that demonstrates delivery of our strategic themes and outcomes as explained in our Strategy.

Covers 100+ years. Published every year.

NDA Business Plan 

Eight week public consultation every year.

Describes key activities across the group over the next three years that align to our strategic outcomes and details the funding available for the next year.

Energy Act (2004) requirement. Covers three years (the first year in more detail). Published every year.

NDA Mid-Year Performance Report 

Provides a progress update against Business Plan activities and incorporates the NDA group targets.

Published every year.

NDA Annual Report and Accounts 

Describes achievements and spending. Reports against Business Plan activities and contains an overall progress update against our mission.

Published every year.

A message from our Chief Executive David Peattie

Welcome to the NDA’s draft Business Plan, setting out proposed activity for 2024 to 2027.

Group structure

Last year we completed a restructure to create a simpler, stronger NDA group, made up of the NDA and four operating companies - Sellafield, Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) and Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS). Magnox and Dounreay joined together in April to create the final operating company and that business is now known as NRS.

Magnox and Dounreay both have proud histories but it’s right to build a new brand that’s inclusive and represents the company it’s going to be as it prepares for new missions such as decommissioning the advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs). We’ve been particularly mindful to consider value for money when updating materials to reflect the new brand and so updates will be phased over two years.

We’re already seeing the benefits of streamlined governance and reduced complexity from these structural changes and, in the period covered by this plan, we’re aiming for more.

Reducing hazards

We recently published our Mission Progress Report capturing the steps taken over the last year towards completing our 47 strategic outcomes. We’ve seen significant hazard reduction including at Sellafield where, for the first time, waste is being retrieved from all four legacy ponds and silos.

EDF Energy has removed fuel for the final time from the first of its two reactors at Hunterston B in Scotland. This represents a great effort from the site team, as well as NTS who safely moved the fuel by rail to Sellafield, where the material is now stored. Defueling of the second reactor is now underway, while NRS continues preparations for the site to transfer to its ownership for decommissioning during the period covered by this plan. This is an important example of us being trusted to do more, alongside discussions with the Ministry of Defence about decommissioning its Vulcan facility, adjacent to Dounreay.

NWS continues its work to find a suitable site and willing community to host a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) to dispose of higher activity waste in England and Wales. A different policy exists in Scotland. This year, the decision was taken not to take Allerdale further in the siting process, with investigations showing limited suitable geology, and I’d like to thank those who engaged in the process. There is a positive legacy, with around £2 million invested in local projects, and engagement continues with three other communities, while the door remains open for others to join the process.

During the last year, the UK Government and devolved administrations consulted on proposals for managing radioactive substances and nuclear decommissioning. It’s been 25 years since the overall policy was updated with new challenges, responsibilities and technological advances to consider. An outcome is expected during 2024, with the resulting policy influencing future strategies and plans.

In 2023 we also hosted a series of stakeholder events showcasing the investments we’re making in technology and innovation, spending around £100 million on projects annually. This has the potential to offer significant value to taxpayers and we’re seeing positive results, including the deployment of a robot in an area of Dounreay that had been inaccessible for decades. I’m confident this pioneering work can make a difference during this Business Plan period and beyond, leading the way in innovative decommissioning approaches in the UK and internationally.

Supporting communities and the environment

How we go about our work is important, achieving results safely and sustainably. We exist to deliver commitments in the Energy Act (2004) and, as well as reducing hazards, we have an obligation to leave a positive and long-lasting legacy.

The First Minister of Wales recently opened a substation linked to the Morlais tidal energy project on Anglesey. This follows more than £1 million invested by us, helping leverage almost £50 million of other funding for the project. Further north we’ve seen construction of Sutherland Spaceport begin not far from Dounreay, the first vertical spaceport to be built on the UK mainland. We will invest £3 million, potentially unlocking 700 jobs and boosting the Highlands and Islands economy, with the spaceport aiming to be a world-leader with its carbon-neutral ambitions.

Creating great places to work

The NDA group is home to one of the most knowledgeable and experienced nuclear workforces in the world. UK and global nuclear ambitions are creating significant opportunities, but also providing challenges with skills in high demand.

I was thrilled to welcome 60 graduates as the first intake to our new NDA group graduate programme this year. I’m particularly proud we not only attracted record applications, but exceeded diversity goals including 47% being female, 26% identifying as an ethnic minority, 18% as LGBTQ and 13% reporting being a person with a disability.

We’ll continue to build on this and plan to double the graduate opportunities available next year. We’ve also announced plans to make at least £750,000 available for PhD bursary sponsorships in 2024. We currently support more than 50 PhD students and three post-doctoral researchers to encourage future pioneers.

Our Inclusion Strategy is focused on ensuring that we create great places to work and employee-led networks are playing a leading role. Our Meno Hub is one example, receiving worthy recognition by being highly commended for the Best Support Group Award at the Menopause Friendly Employer Awards 2023.

On a personal note, I was honoured to receive a Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering. I see this as recognition for each of the 17,000 people in our group and the excellent work they deliver each day.

Supporting Great British Nuclear

As a UK Government body, we’re making our skills, expertise and land available to support Great British Nuclear (GBN), which has been created to deliver the UK Government’s long-term nuclear aspirations. Some senior individuals have been seconded to help establish GBN and our subsidiary NTS is delighted to have received funding to develop a new transport package which could support the next generation of nuclear reactors.

Looking forward

This plan sets out a challenging programme to continue delivery of our mission, create great places to work and be trusted to do more. We’ll see our mission progressed on a broad number of fronts, reducing hazards at our sites including painstaking work to retrieve radioactive waste from ageing facilities, while aiming to get even more benefits from working as a group with approaches such as integrated transport and waste management programmes. We’ll also take forward some of our most significant projects, including work to identify a site that could host a GDF.

This three-year period will include some of the biggest changes since the creation of the NDA, as we take responsibility for decommissioning the first AGR site. Our team will also work with stakeholders to develop and implement our next Strategy, due for publication in 2026.

Above all, we’ll retain focus on ensuring that work is undertaken safely, sustainably and cost effectively. I remain acutely aware of the difficult financial environment in which we are living and the impact that inflation is having on the cost of work. With most of our funding coming from taxpayers, we constantly review plans and are firmly committed to ensuring that every pound we spend matters.

I’m proud of the work our team does and remain grateful for the support of stakeholders as we take forward such an important mission on behalf of the nation. 

David Peattie FREng HonFNucl
NDA Group Chief Executive Officer

The NDA and our mission

We’re responsible for keeping the UK’s former nuclear sites and facilities, once at the heart of supporting national defence and generating nuclear power for electricity, safe and secure, as we decommission them and overcome the challenges of managing nuclear waste. It’s one of the most important environmental programmes in the world, protecting people and the planet.

Our 17,000 strong, skilled group workforce works hard on behalf of the UK, using innovation and technology to overcome the challenges of identifying and removing nuclear waste from ageing facilities, so we can store it safely and permanently dispose of it. The work is complex and challenging. Dealing with all the waste, dismantling hundreds of buildings and facilities, and building a GDF, to dispose of the most radioactive nuclear waste, will take decades. However, by investing today in the challenges left over from the UK’s proud nuclear history, we can remove the burden for future generations and continue to deliver social and environmental benefits through our jobs, knowledge, skills, technology and social investment.

Our team is working with partners in research and industry to drive innovation, using cutting-edge technology to reduce hazards and risks, so that over time the sites can be used again for worthwhile purposes.

Our history

The UK is a pioneer of nuclear technologies, which have been part of our lives since the 1950s. Our sites and facilities have been at the heart of delivering nuclear benefits for the UK, including national defence programmes and supplying safe, low-carbon power to UK homes, businesses, schools and hospitals, for decades.

Unlike modern day equivalents however, our old nuclear plants and facilities weren’t designed for managing the nuclear waste they created, or for decommissioning. There are limited historical records on what, or how much, nuclear waste was left on some of the sites during their working lives.

Generating nuclear power today will not leave future generations with the challenges we’re trying to overcome. Nuclear waste produced today is carefully managed, and following in the footsteps of other countries, a GDF will provide us with a safe way of disposing of higher active waste, permanently in England and Wales. Scotland has a distinct policy for higher activity radioactive waste which sets out a near site, near surface approach.

How we work

How we go about our work is very important to us and we must deliver results safely, responsibly, and sustainably. Our commitment to creating environmental and social benefits builds on our long history of providing value for the UK and we want to ensure that our actions and decisions continue to have a lasting, positive impact.

Trusted to do more

As we look forward, our work will be expanding. We have been asked to use our specialist expertise and skills, to decommission newer reactors as they reach the end of their power-generating lives. Arrangements have been agreed by the UK Government, Scottish Government and EDF Energy for the NDA group to decommission Britain’s seven advanced gas-cooled reactor (AGR) stations.

The AGRs will reach the end of their operational lives over the next 10 years and, after defueling, with the fuel being transferred to Sellafield for interim storage, will transfer to NRS for decommissioning.

Map of NDA group sites

The NDA group

Our group is made up of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and four key component parts: Sellafield, Nuclear Restoration Services, Nuclear Waste Services and Nuclear Transport Solutions.

• The NDA is an executive non-departmental public body, created through the Energy Act (2004), sponsored and funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) UK Government Investments also provides strategic oversight of corporate governance and performance. We have just over 380 permanent staff and are accountable to UK Government and Scottish Government ministers for delivery of our mission through our subsidiary companies.

• Sellafield is responsible for decommissioning the UK’s most complex and challenging nuclear site. The site houses around 85 per cent of all the UK’s nuclear waste, on an area of less than two square miles. The Sellafield workforce is taking waste out of buildings as old as the site itself, looking after fuel so that nuclear power stations can continue to operate, and repackaging the country’s stockpile of nuclear materials. Today great steps are being taken towards creating a clean and sustainable future.

• Nuclear Restoration Services is responsible for safely decommissioning the first generation nuclear and research sites across the UK. It brings together Dounreay and the sites previously branded as Magnox, as part of our work to simplify the way the NDA group is structured, taking opportunities to get best value from working together as one team. NRS also operates a hydro-electric plant and is preparing to welcome the seven AGRs, currently managed by EDF Energy, for decommissioning, as well as other future missions.

• Nuclear Waste Services is the UK’s leading nuclear waste management organisation, focused on managing the UK’s nuclear waste, safely and securely, for generations to come. Its work includes the programme to deliver a GDF, operation of the Low Level Repository Site in Cumbria and oversight of the NDA group’s Integrated Waste Management Programme.

• Nuclear Transport Solutions is our leading global provider of safe, secure and reliable nuclear transport solutions. It uses its specialist transport and logistics expertise to support our nuclear decommissioning mission and help customers and partners around the world solve their own complex challenges.

Other NDA group companies include NDA Archives Ltd, NDA Properties Ltd, Rutherford Indemnity Ltd and Energus.

Our vision

Deliver our mission together safely, securely and more creatively, transparently and efficiently

Create great places to work and take pride in what we do

Trusted to do more in the UK and globally

Our funding

We are publicly funded through the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). Our total planned expenditure is voted upon annually by Parliament in line with the Spending Review.

Funding framework

UK Government has shown continued support for the NDA mission over recent years with increased grant funding offsetting the decline in commercial revenue. Spending Review 2021 (SR21) set funding for three financial years from 2022/23 to 2024/25. Funding for the second and third years of this business plan (2025/26 and 2026/27) has not yet been established and will be set as part of a future Spending Review process, expected in 2024.

Commercial income

We maximise revenue from our existing assets and operations to help fund decommissioning and clean up, in order to reduce the level of public funding needed to meet the scope of our plans and delivery of the NDA mission.

Our commercial operations are primarily spent fuel and nuclear materials management with additional opportunities identified in providing transportation services.

We will pursue all commercial opportunities using our existing assets, operations and people where they do not materially impact on our core mission or increase our liabilities.

Prioritisation and allocation of funding

Within affordability constraints, we will seek to maintain progress and maximise value for money through the effective implementation of our strategy. This means focusing on reducing our highest hazards and risks, whilst ensuring that safe, secure and environmentally responsible site operations are maintained.

Planned income and expenditure in 2024/25

This Business Plan sets out our anticipated income and expenditure for 2024/25. High inflation has continued to place additional cost pressure on many areas of our spend but has also resulted in increases to certain areas of our income.

Our total planned expenditure for 2024/25 is £4.098 billion, of which £2.940 billion will be funded by UK Government and £1.158 billion from commercially generated revenue.

Planned expenditure on-site programmes will be £3.931 billion, while non-site expenditure is expected to be £0.167 billion.

This non-site expenditure includes skills development, socio-economic, research and development, insurance and pension costs and the NDA operating costs as detailed in the table below (2024/25 breakdown of non-site expenditure).

• £4.098bn total planned expenditure 2024/25

• £2.940bn funded by UK Government 2024/25

• £3.931bn planned site expenditure 2024/25

• £0.167bn planned non-site expenditure 2024/25

Businesses/Sites	Decom and Clean-up Costs (A) £m	Total Operations Costs: Running Cost (B) £m	Total Operations Costs:Capex (C) £m	2024/25 Plan Total (A+B+C) £m	2023/24 Plan Total £m
Sellafield Limited	1,387	720	693	2,800	2,800
Nuclear Restoration Services – Sites Delivery Business	540	-	-	540	540
Nuclear Restoration Services – Dounreay Delivery Business	225	-	-	225	221
Nuclear Waste Services	247	-	-	247	240
Nuclear Transport Solutions	-	84	-	84	111
Springfields Fuels Limited	18	-	-	18	22
Capenhurst	17	-	-	17	24
Non-site expenditure	167	-	-	167	185
Total	2,601	804	693	4,098	4,133
Income	-	-	-	1,170	820
Net (grant funded)	-	-	-	2,940	2,963

Notes:

1. Numbers may not cast due to rounding

2. Final Annual Site Funding Limits issued in March 2024 may be adjusted to reflect efficiency, performance and portfolio pressures.

3. The NDA reserves the right to reallocate funding to meet prioritised programme needs.

Summary of NDA funding 2024/25 onward

Summary of NDA funding	2024/25 £m	2025/26 £m	2026/27 £m
Income	1,158	tbc	tbc
Government funding	2,940	tbc	tbc
Expenditure	(4,098)	tbc	tbc
Net	-	-	-

2024/25 breakdown of non-site expenditure

Non-site expenditure	2024/25 Plan £m	2023/24 Plan £m
NDA operating costs	32	38
Critical enablers	74	74
Estate insurance	13	12
Other central spend	48	61
Total	167	185

2024/25 breakdown of planned income by category

Income source	2024/25 Plan £m	2023/24 Plan £m
Reprocessing and fuel management services	917	906
NDA – INS transport	43	73
NDA-generated revenue	154	152
Intra-site services	44	39
Total	1,158	1,170

Current plans indicate it will take 100+ years to complete our core mission of nuclear decommissioning and waste management

Our strategic approach and themes

We use five strategic themes to describe all the activities needed to deliver the NDA’s mission.

Our strategic themes

We use five strategic themes to describe all the activities needed to deliver the NDA’s mission.

The first four strategic themes, Spent Fuels, Nuclear Materials, Integrated Waste Management and Site Decommissioning and Remediation, relate directly to decommissioning work and are known as driving themes.

The fifth theme describes the important activities needed to support the delivery of our mission and is known as Critical Enablers. The diagram below demonstrates how they interact.

Integration of our strategies

Currently, the most urgent tasks are dealing with our sites’ highest-hazard materials, spent fuel, nuclear materials and highly-radioactive wastes. Once the inventory has been removed and either securely stored or disposed of, the redundant nuclear facilities can be dismantled and demolished.

Our themes and strategic outcomes

Across our four driving themes, we break our mission down into 47 strategic outcomes. These outcomes represent the significant pieces of work that must be achieved to deliver our mission.

In March 2021 we published our new Strategy. As a consequence, we have revised some of the detail around a number of outcomes to ensure they continue to align with our strategic approach.

Increasingly, we’re building a more accurate picture of the work that has been completed across our 47 outcomes and that which is still left to do.

Spent Fuels

Our strategy defines our approach to managing the diverse range of spent fuels for which we are responsible, which are divided into Magnox, Oxide and Exotic. Once spent fuel is removed from a reactor, it is stored in a pond or dry store until it can be dispatched to Sellafield. For more information on the types of spent fuels we manage, see our Strategy document.

The NDA’s strategy has been to bring the reprocessing programme to an end. The THORP reprocessing plant and the Magnox reprocessing plant have now closed. All remaining spent fuel will be safely stored until a permanent solution for disposal is available. The strategy for all remaining spent fuels is to place them in an interim store pending a future decision on whether to classify them as waste for disposal in a GDF. For planning purposes, we assume that all the remaining spent fuels will be disposed of in a GDF.

Nuclear Materials

Our strategy defines our approach to dealing with the inventory of uranics and plutonium currently stored on some of our sites. These nuclear materials are by-products from different phases of the fuel cycle, either manufacturing or reprocessing. All nuclear materials must be managed safely and securely, by either converting them into new fuel or immobilising and storing them until a permanent UK disposal facility is available.

All of our plutonium is stored at Sellafield. Our uranium is located at a number of our sites and we are continuing to consolidate it at sites which we consider are best suited to its management. For more information on the types of nuclear materials we manage, see our Strategy document.

Integrated Waste Management

Our strategy considers how we manage all forms of waste arising from operating and decommissioning our sites, including waste retrieved from legacy facilities.Managing the large quantities of radioactive waste from electricity generation, research, the early defence programme and decommissioning is one of the NDA’s biggest challenges. Some of this radioactive waste is in a raw (untreated) form, some has been treated and is being interim stored and, in the case of low level waste, some has already been permanently disposed of.

Retrieving, treating and interim storing the radioactive waste from Sellafield’s four legacy ponds and silo facilities is the NDA’s highest priority. For more information on the types of waste we manage, see our Strategy document.

Site Decommissioning and Remediation

Our strategy defines our approach to decommissioning redundant facilities and managing land quality in order that each site can be released for its next planned use.

After the buildings on our sites have been decommissioned, decontaminated and dismantled, the land will be cleaned up to allow it to be released for.

other uses. At that point, its ownership would transfer to the new user of the land.

The NDA is currently assessing alternatives for the final stages of decommissioning that could lead to earlier release of land, continued employment and opportunities to reuse the land.

Critical Enablers

Our fifth strategic theme, critical enablers, covers the important activities needed to support the overall delivery of our mission.

Work featuring in 2024-2027

The next few pages present in more detail examples of some of the important work that will either be completed or advanced in the next three years. This near-term activity is mapped against our strategic themes and specifically to the 47 outcomes* that make up our mission. All dates reflect the latest information and are subject to change. 

The case studies also show how our work is contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which are a blueprint for peace and prosperity, now and into the future. Much of our work can be related to one or more of the SDGs, and we are continuing to work to maximise these outcomes.

Infographic of the UN sustainability goals

*Our 47 outcomes cover all our strategic themes except ‘critical enablers’.

Spent Fuels 2024-2027

Spent Magnox Fuel

Outcome number	Activity	End date
1	All sites defueled	Completed
2	All legacy Magnox fuel retrieved	2039
3	All Magnox fuel reprocessing completed	Completed
4	All remaining Magnox fuel in interim storage	2042
5	All remaining Magnox fuel disposed	2125

Spent Oxide Fuel

Outcome number	Activity	End date
6	All EDFE Oxide fuel received	2035
7	All legacy oxide fuel retrieved	Completed
8	All oxide fuel reprocessing completed	Completed
9	All remaining oxide fuel in interim storage	2035
10	All remaining oxide fuel disposed	2125

Spent Exotic Fuel

Outcome number	Activity	End date
11	All exotic fuel defueled	2024
12	All exotic fuel consolidated	2028
13	All exotic fuel reprocessing completed	Completed
14	All remaining exotic fuel in interim storage	2028
15	All remaining exotic fuel disposed	2125

Case study - DFR defueling and consolidation to Sellafield

UN goal numbers 9 and 12

Some breeder fuel elements remain within the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) and are still to be removed. Historically, DFR fuel was reprocessed at the Sellafield site, but technical challenges removing some elements and the 2022 end of reprocessing has meant that an alternative strategy was needed for what remains.

This revised approach sees the remaining fuel removed and brought to Sellafield over the next three years and placed in long-term storage, allowing timely decommissioning of the Dounreay site.

Consolidating the fuel at Sellafield, which already manages a much larger fuel inventory, helps deliver a more efficient approach to UK spent fuel management.

Case study - AGR defueling

UN goal numbers 9, 12 and 17

Preparations have continued for the NDA and NRS to decommission the UK’s Advanced-Gas Cooled Reactors (AGR).

Hunterston B will be the first site to transfer and in September defueling of its first reactor was completed.

EDF Energy worked closely with Sellafield to ensure defueling was completed on time and on budget. The aim is to have the second reactor defueled and all spent fuel sent to Sellafield by mid-2025, prior to transfer of site ownership to the NDA in 2026. NRS will manage the decommissioning of all seven AGRs, as they stop generating nuclear power and progressively move to the NDA group over the next ten years.

Nuclear Materials 2024-2027

Plutonium

Outcome number	Activity	End date
16	All plutonium produced	Completed
17	All plutonium consolidated	Completed
18	A: All plutonium repacked in long-term storage B: All cans not suitable for extended storage repackaged	2060
19	All plutonium in modern interim storage	2060
20	All plutonium reused or disposed	2120

Uranium

Outcome number	Activity	End date
21	All uranium produced	Completed
22	All uranium consolidated	2025
23	All uranium treated	2055
24	All uranium in interim storage	2055
25	All uranium reused or disposed	2120

Case study - Accelerating hazard reduction at Sellafield

UN goal numbers 9 and 17

The NDA is working with Sellafield, NWS and regulators to re-classify a small quantity of plutonium bearing residues to allow their future disposition as a waste product using existing capabilities at Sellafield. Processing the materials in this way accelerates risk and hazard reduction and avoids future processing in the Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment (SRP) plant.

Although the quantities proposed are modest it would be a significant step forward in proving this route for the future.

Case study - Reducing risks from plutonium storage

UN goal number 9

Work is underway to repackage plutonium so that it remains safe and suitable for extended storage in line with our strategy. Packages will also be moved from the oldest stores to more modern facilities, reducing risks and enabling redundant buildings to be closed. The amount of plutonium being stored is also expected to reduce, by treating and appropriately disposing of some low plutonium content materials that are residues from historical processing activities.

Construction and installation work continues on the Sellafield Product and Residue Store Retreatment Plant, which will ultimately be used for the repackaging and retreatment of plutonium.

Integrated Waste Management 2024-2027

Low Level Waste

Outcome number	Activity	End date
26	All LLW produced	2127
27	All LLW treated - to enable diversion or reuse	2127
28	All waste suitable for disposal in NDA facilities	2127
29	All waste suitable for permitted landfill disposed	2127

Intermediate Level Waste

Outcome number	Activity	End date
30	All ILW produced	2120
31	All ILW waste retrieved	2060
32	All ILW treated	2120
33	All ILW in interim storage	2120
34	All ILW disposed	2314

High Level Waste

Outcome number	Activity	End date
35	All HLW produced	2039
36	All HLW treated	2039
37	All HLW waste in interim storage	2039
38	All overseas HLW exported	2029
39	All HLW disposed	2104

Case study - Waste retrieval at Sellafield

UN goal numbers 12, 14 and 15

Decommissioning of the Sellafield site has taken a significant step forward with the first removal of waste from the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo in August 2023.

This means that for the first time ever Sellafield is retrieving waste from all four legacy ponds and silos which represent some of the most complex and difficult decommissioning challenges in the world.

In March a team of specialist nuclear divers entered the Pile Fuel Storage Pond, the first time anyone had entered the pond since 1958, to carry out vital clean-up and decommissioning work.

Over the next three years retrievals will continue from all of these facilities with new supporting capabilities being brought on line to support delivery.

Case study - Winfrith TRS drums to LLW Repository site

UN goal number 12

The Treated Radwaste Store (TRS) was constructed in the late 1980s to store encapsulated waste from the Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor (SGHWR) at Winfrith, and held 1,068 500-litre drums of encapsulated sludge. From 2016, NWS staff worked with Winfrith to explore alternatives to managing the waste more effectively, adopting a one NDA approach. As a result, it was confirmed that the TRS drums could be disposed of at the repository in the gaps that could not be filled by other disposal containers. It has also led to lower uncertainty and risk profile, alongside a higher lifecycle maturity and cost certainty.

Site Decommissioning and Remediation 2024-2027 

Operational and planned

Outcome number	Activity	End date
40	All planned new buildings Operational	2090
41	All buildings primary function completed	2127

Decommissioning and demolition

Outcome number	Activity	End date
42	All buildings decommissioned	2131
43	All buildings demolished or reused	2133

Sites

Outcome number	Activity	End date
44	All land delicensed or relicensed	2135
45	All land in End State - all planned physical work complete	2134
46	All land demonstrated as suitable for reuse	2135
47	All land dedesignated or reused	2334

Case study - Development phase of reactor dismantling at Trawsfynydd

UN goal number 9

Building on conceptual phase work completed between 2020-2022, a four-year programme of work has been sanctioned to further develop reactor dismantling designs and plans for the site.  Work has commenced in the following key areas:

• five dismantling scheme design packages that will deliver greater technical clarity on how to deliver dismantling

• characterisation and waste strategy development to underpin estimates of reactor inventory and ensure that all wastes generated have appropriate routes available

• to develop an appropriate commercial model for long-term delivery. 

This work will provide the technical, commercial and programme underpinning necessary to demonstrate that the benefits of the business case are achievable, and the programme represents overall value for money.

Case study - Berkeley blower house demolition

UN goal number 9

In May 2023, work began to demolish four ‘blower house’ superstructures that surround Berkeley site’s two reactor buildings.

Once responsible for circulating gas through the reactors to transfer heat into 310 tonne boilers, creating steam to turn the turbines, the buildings will be emptied of the residual low-level waste, undergo a full asbestos clean and be demolished.

One of the largest decommissioning projects seen at the site for several years, the project, originally planned for 2070’s, has been brought forward by five decades and will take eight years to complete, fulfilling NRS’s aim of delivering its mission better, faster, and even safer.

Critical Enablers 2024-2027

Our fifth strategic theme, critical enablers, covers the important activities needed to support the overall delivery of our mission.

Wheel with a list of the strategic themes and critical enablers

Critical enabler number 1 - Health, safety, environment and wellbeing

Safety is, and always will be, our number one priority. Our focus is to reduce the highest hazards and risks, while ensuring safe, secure and environmentally responsible operations at our sites. It’s our duty to carry out this highly complex mission safely and efficiently while ensuring people and the environment are safeguarded at all times.

We aim to be recognised as a leading environmental remediation organisation. Our environment strategy is maturing and we are working towards a low carbon future and improved environmental outcomes to ensure that our mission outcomes are delivered in an environmentally sustainable manner.

Our strategy for health and wellbeing is to provide a supportive working environment across the NDA group by actively promoting and working with our employees and trade unions (see People) to develop and implement policies and standards with employee health and wellbeing at the forefront.

Critical enabler number 2 - Sustainability

Sustainability is one of the NDA’s critical enablers, added for the first time as part of our 2021-2026 Strategy published in 2021, with the objective to ensure that mission outcomes and the journey to deliver them are sustainable.

Therefore, sustainability entails a broad commitment to the way our work is delivered, aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Extensive engagement has been undertaken to understand the impact of our work and the factors that influence it, which has resulted in the identification of four sustainability legacies – decommissioning, environment, socio-economics and culture. The NDA supports Government aspirations to be carbon net zero by 2050, and 2045 in Scotland.

Critical enabler number 3 -  Security and resilience

Security is a fundamental element of all civil nuclear operations. We are committed to providing proportionate security and resilience solutions throughout the decommissioning lifecycle.

We recognise the many threats that face the NDA and its supply chain and have appropriate mitigations in place for a range of internal and external threats.

Our strategy brings the NDA operating companies together, taking a group-wide approach to security and resilience in order to improve collaborative working and, where appropriate, implement a shared approach to security arrangements.

Critical enabler number 4 - Cyber security

Our cyber security strategy is well established and well supported by all the operating companies within the NDA group.

The nature of the threat continues to evolve and is so prevalent that we have established a Group Industrial Cyber Capability to ensure that we become an increasingly harder target for those who seek to do harm to our businesses or our sites.

We will ensure that we can collectively protect ourselves, detect cyber incidents early and have mature response and recovery plans to minimise disruption to our core mission of nuclear clean-up and environmental restoration.

Critical enabler number 5 - Research, development and innovation

Research, development and innovation are essential in transforming how we deliver our mission and grow skills for the future.

We require fresh thinking and novel approaches to address our diverse challenges and help us deliver safe, secure and sustainable solutions. Collaboration, with our UK supply chain, other sectors and abroad, is a core part of our strategy to deliver value for money.

Critical enabler number 6 - People

We strive to create great and diverse places to work so that we can retain our people, maintain our skills base and recruit into our businesses.

Our people strategy has three main focus areas: ensuring we have the right people at the right time to deliver the mission; creating the culture in which our people can thrive; and working in partnership with our recognised trade unions and the broader stakeholder community.

Critical enabler number 7 - Asset management

The NDA group has assets in all stages of the asset management lifecycle and we have a responsibility to secure safe, environmentally considerate and cost-effective asset management across the group.

Our strategy continues to address the enduring risk that poor asset performance adversely impacts our mission.We have matured through-life asset management planning for legacy assets and look to integrate this into new assets.

To ensure our assets and support processes achieve this objective, we need to accelerate formal and scientific continuous improvement practices informed by good practice that focuses on value for money mission delivery across all aspects of our business.

Critical enabler number 8 - Supply chain

A diverse, ethical, innovative, and resilient supply chain is essential to delivering the NDA mission and supports value for money for the UK taxpayer.

With our one NDA way of working, we are now uniquely placed to identify synergies across the group and develop further collaborative procurement activities. We continue to broaden the routes to market and our supply base for the NDA group.

A more diverse and sustainable range of suppliers with nuclear experience will provide greater resilience and access to innovative solutions for safe, secure and cost-effective decommissioning.

Critical enabler number 9 - Information governance

The NDA owns most of the information and data produced and managed by the NDA group. We collaborate with and support all businesses within the group in order to comply with statutory and regulatory obligations and realise the value of these assets to enable delivery of the NDA mission.

We have embedded a number of group-wide strategies, policies, procedures and guidance and deliver key centralised services including an archive and long-term records management facility (Nucleus) and a secure collaboration platform (the NDA Hub).

Critical enabler number 10 - Socio-economics

We have a statutory responsibility to support the maintenance of sustainable local economies for communities living near NDA sites and, where possible, contribute to regional economic growth.

The NDA group’s socio-economic strategy is built upon supporting sustainable incomes, resilient economies and thriving communities.

Our approach is to work locally. This means working in partnership with local authorities, constituency MPs and organisations to better understand local needs. In supporting our local communities, our primary strategy is to ensure that decisions that direct the delivery of our decommissioning mission support local sustainable and inclusive economic growth and greater social value wherever possible.

To ensure our local communities can attract future economic activity, we prioritise support and funds for projects which are consistent with our responsibilities to the UK taxpayer. We work in partnership with others to increase the impact of our funding.

Critical enabler number 11 - Public and stakeholder engagement

Open and transparent engagement is key to building support, confidence and trust, and the relationships we have built with communities and local authorities close to our nuclear sites have been instrumental in our mission progress.

We continue to explore different ways to build a better understanding of our work, among the public and our stakeholders, and encourage open and honest discussion on all matters including those issues that are difficult and complex.

We are committed to exploring a diverse range of views from across the full breadth of the stakeholder landscape and using that insight to drive and influence our strategic direction and the way we deliver the NDA’s mission.

Critical enabler number 12 - Transport and logistics

The effective delivery of the NDA mission relies on our ability to transport radioactive materials (for example, spent fuel, radioactive waste, contaminated items) and bulk materials (for example, spoil, concrete, raw materials) to, from and between our sites. Our subsidiary Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) is the leading global provider of safe, secure and reliable nuclear transport solutions which support the NDA group and provide value beyond the NDA mission, both in the UK and overseas.

Critical enabler number 13 - International relations

The NDA’s operating environment is inherently international and the risks we manage transcend national boundaries.

The materials in our inventory have safety and security considerations on a global scale, and the policy framework in which our strategy is developed is underpinned by international standards and guidance.

The nuclear decommissioning market is growing globally and we will continue to use our experience and relationships to enhance the reputation of the UK nuclear industry, sharing our experience and skills, accessing peer reviews, and conducting joint technology development projects.

To find out more about our critical enablers please refer to our Strategy.

Cyber Security

UN Goal number 4

Case study - Cumbria Crak event

In October, the NDA hosted Cumbria’s first ever cyber security “Capture the Flag” competition for secondary schools across the county to encourage pupils to consider a career in cyber security by taking part in a variety of cyber activities and competitions. The event, which took place during Cyber Awareness Month, allowed students to also hear from cyber experts at the NDA and the Group Industrial Cyberspace Centre, as well as engage with former apprentices and graduates who started their careers in cyber in the NDA group and could talk about their own experience getting into the industry.

Security and Resilience

UN Goal numbers 9 and 17

The Challenge: security and resilience

The NDA is always seeking innovative ways to ensure our sites remain safe and secure in a resource constrained environment, whilst delivering proportionate security in line with the site risk reduction curve during the decommissioning process.

Currently, all NDA sites have high-level security measures in place designed to protect nuclear material and other radiological material, in line with associated risk reduction.

In 2022/23, the security and resilience team in conjunction with our technology and innovation team conducted a collaborative innovation competition with Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) and Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) to explore the potential for future security systems.

This competition to provide appropriate, efficient and cost-effective solutions concluded in July 2023 including a showcase of potential solutions for diverse stakeholders from the NDA group and beyond. Subsequent innovation trials are planned to launch later in 2023/24 for an 18 month live trial on an NDA site thereafter.

Stakeholder Relations

UN Goal numbers 3, 10 and 11

Case study - GDF and Community Partnerships: Community Investment Funding

The formation of Community Partnerships as part of the GDF programme will have unlocked around £7 million of Community Investment Funding by the end of 2023, supporting over 120 projects from community youth schemes to mental health initiatives, and driving real positive change in those places. 

This shows that there are clear benefits for communities participating in the process, making a real difference to local people. All are in areas which have formed Community Partnerships to engage in a dialogue about what hosting a GDF would mean for them.

The funding, awarded over the previous two years, has helped a variety of community ventures in Mid Copeland, South Copeland and Allerdale in Cumberland access £2 million each and Theddlethorpe in Lincolnshire, £1 million. A key feature of the funding is that the organisations chosen to receive grants are decided by members of the Community Partnerships, not NWS.

Skills/People

UN Goal numbers 4, 8 and 10

Case study - Largest and most diverse cohort of graduates joins NDA group

Graduates and apprentices took centre stage at a Nuclear Week in Parliament reception hosted by the Nuclear Industry Association and sponsored by the NDA. Attendees shared first-hand experience about how the next generation of nuclear decommissioning workforce is being developed.

It comes as the NDA welcomes its largest and most diverse cohort of graduates following the launch of the NDA group graduate programme in 2022. Around 60 graduates have joined and the scheme has exceeded aspirations for diversity goals due to be achieved by 2025, with 47% of graduates being female, 26% identifying as an ethnic minority, 18% as LGBTQ and 13% reporting being a person with a disability. The number of graduate opportunities is set to double next year.

Health, Safety, Environment and Wellbeing

UN Goal number 3

Case study - Health and wellbeing

In 2024, the NDA group will launch a Wellbeing Centre of Excellence. Underpinned with a new six year, two phase strategy that will guide our organisation to the recognised excellence of ISO45003:2021 certification. This will unpack each stage of the ISO 45003 journey in the context of the group, setting out the planning and milestones that are necessary for the completion of each stage.

An online wellbeing hub will be developed as an effective, meaningful, and accessible resource that can benefit the entire group workforce. A range of leadership training and competency programmes will be launched.

Transport and Logistics

UN Goal numbers 7 and 9

Case study - Government support to develop new transport package

Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) secured over £1 million funding from the UK Government in July 2023 to lead on the development of an innovative package which will transport High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) fuel to new nuclear reactors.

Funded via the Nuclear Fuel Fund, the new package will be versatile to allow NTS to transport HALEU in multiple forms, such as powder or fuel elements.

Research, Development and Innovation

UN Goal numbers 3 and 9

Case study - Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo)

RAICo is a collaboration between the NDA, Sellafield, UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and the University of Manchester looking at addressing common challenges between nuclear fission and fusion. 

The partnership will pioneer the deployment of robotics and artificial intelligence to deliver sustainable decommissioning more effectively, efficiently, and for less cost to the taxpayer.

Over the next few years up to £28 million will be invested in transformative technologies and capabilities that can be utilised across the whole NDA group. Early successes have seen robots deployed at Sellafield to access hazardous and hard to reach areas for waste chararacterisation and management – with learning shared across NDA sites to deliver benefits group-wide.

Asset Management

UN Goal number 12

Case study - Lean manufacturing of the Sellafield AGR dismantler

The Sellafield AGR Fuel Dismantling Plant was identified as a bottleneck in AGR defueling, so the NDA and Sellafield mapped and analysed data, engaging the workforce and working together identified and implement opportunities for improvement. This led to embedment of lean manufacturing tools, techniques and behaviours within the facility to improve and sustain fuel processing through the dismantler. This was a significant step up with new ways of working introduced, with the techniques and activities are now being shared with other plants.

Supply Chain

UN Goal numbers 8,9 and 12

Case study - Small and medium enterprises and supply chain diversity

At the highest level, our aim has been around a third of our supply chain expenditure (circa £2 billion) with small and medium sized businesses. This was to promote broader supply chain diversity, build longer term supply chain resilience and help stimulate enhanced economic growth in line with Government policy. In 2022/23, and following excellent collaboration between NDA and Sellafield in particular, the NDA group achieved it’s highest ever position, 39%. This places NDA as one of the highest performing bodies in this space, particularly when considering the complexity of our supply chain requirements. Sustaining this level of excellent performance remains a key focus for the group commercial functions over the coming years.

Socio Economics

UN Goal numbers 8,9 and 12

Case study - Sutherland Spaceport investment

The NDA has committed £3 million toward the development of the £30 million Sutherland Spaceport, the first vertical launch spaceport on UK mainland. It’s expected to create over 700 new employment opportunities in the Highlands and Islands over the lifetime of the programme and boost the local economy by £56 million per year by the end of the decade. It is also intended to become the first carbon-neutral spaceport in the world.

International Relations

UN Goal number 17

Case study - Collaborating across borders

The NDA’s Chief Strategist for Integrated Waste Management has been selected as chair of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) technical working group on radioactive waste management and technologies.

Dr James McKinney represents the UK on the group alongside representatives from around 20 other nations and will act as chair for a four-year term until 2026. The group aims to provides advice to the IAEA on technical areas relating to radioactive waste including policies and strategies, technologies and processes for sustainable management of  radioactive waste, stakeholder involvement, information sharing and international collaboration. It’s one of many ways the NDA plays a leading role representing the UK on the international stage.

Information Governance

UN Goal number 11

Case study - Heritage strategy implemented

A hertiage strategy has been created in collaboration with NDA group heritage specialists and in consultation with others from the heritage sector, to maximise our ability to identify, safeguard and celebrate the history and cultural heritage of the nuclear industry.

There are many benefits of preserving, safeguarding, and celebrating nuclear heritage, ranging from learning lessons of the past so we can support decommissioning and future nuclear developments, to realising significant social value potential by connecting with local communities and stakeholders.

Capturing the legacy of the nuclear industry will enrich the NDA mission and help us deliver our outcomes more effectively.

NDA group key activities

The NDA group’s key activities for the next three years are set out below.

All activities and dates shown in the subsequent pages represent the latest emerging information and are subject to change.

Where we expect an activity to complete during the Business Plan period, this is clearly stated. All other activities will continue into the following year.

NDA

Planned expenditure for 2024/25  - £32 million

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Spent Fuels
Spent Oxide Fuel
Continue to work with EDF Energy and our subsidiaries on the integrated and collaborative delivery programme for the safe and cost-effective defueling of AGR power stations, the AGR Operating Programme	2024-2027	6, 9
Spent Exotic Fuel
Work with our group businesses to optimise the strategy for the consolidation of exotic fuels from Dounreay to Sellafield	2024-2027	12, 14
Nuclear Materials
Plutonium
Work with the UK Government on a disposition solution that puts the UK’s plutonium beyond reach	2024-2027	20
Implement a programme of research and development to mature the credible options for plutonium disposition	2024-2027	20
Uranium
In line with our Strategy, and following business case approval, implement the preferred approach to dealing with the NDA owned uranium hexafluoride at Capenhurst	2024-2027	22, 23, 24, 25
Integrated Waste Management
Make more use of a risk informed approach for waste management and to seek solutions that help to optimise the lifecycle of both radioactive and non radioactive wastes	2024-2027	26 - 39
Work with group businesses to explore alternative disposal options for Higher Activity Waste	2024-2027	34, 39
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Work with our operating companies to support the continued optimisation of our strategies for decommissioning and clean-up, embedding a rolling programme of decommissioning across NRS reactor sites and planning for the integration of AGRs	2024-2027	42, 43, 44, 45, 46
Reviewing and establishing new guidance on the selection of decommissioning strategies, including our approach to prioritisation	2024-2027	42, 43
Dedesignate or reuse
Work with Government, regulators and our operating companies to support continued development of more proportionate regulatory arrangements for final stage decommissioning and clean-up and the timely delivery of these	2024-2027	45, 46, 47
Continue to lead the NDA group Remediation Forum, helping embed approaches to the determination and delivery of site end-states across our sites, and sharing our learning through the wider Nuclear Industry Group on Land Quality	2024-2027	45
Review opportunities available under our Group Operating Framework to make better use of our land, across the NDA-owned estate, to support delivery of our decommissioning and clean-up mission and also ensuring we deliver relevant long term controls and stewardship of our sites	2024-2027	46, 47
Critical Enablers
Develop and implement carbon reductions through carbon management plans at each operating company and meet Greening Government Commitments	2024-2027	CE1,CE2
Build on our natural capital baseline assessment of our NDA owned land and develop a plan to improve the environmental value of this land where this aligns with other strategic land use opportunities	2024-2027	CE1,CE2
Lead in the area of mental health and wellbeing across the NDA group and further enhance the wellbeing community across the group	2024-2027	CE1
Implement new ICT programmes to allow smarter, flexible working across the NDA. To include digital transformation and Information Governance initiatives across the group aimed at improving the way we work and collaborate, whilst maintaining information security and legislative compliance	2024-2027	CE9
Proactively deter, detect, defend against, recover from and be resilient to both current and evolving cyber threats	2024-2027	CE4
Proactively dispose/release surplus assets no longer required by the NDA group or wider parts of Government, including those that have high socio-economic value	2023-2026	-
Work with other nuclear and non-nuclear organisations to encourage and leverage cross-sector investment in research, development and innovation (RD&I) and lead the promotion and adoption of RD&I across the NDA group	2024-2027	CE5
Enable and drive the delivery of our mission through our people by attracting, retaining and developing a high performing, highly skilled, talented and motivated workforce and creating a culture in which they can thrive	2024-2027	CE6
Lead the diversity and inclusion strategy across the NDA group ensuring effective governance and co-ordination to drive a one NDA Inclusion approach, including achieving sector targets, strategy goals and commitments supporting our vision to create great places to work	2024-2027	CE6
Secure safe, reliable, maintainable and sustainable asset performance and optimise through life cost of assets	2024-2027	CE7
Build commercial capability which maintains a resilient, sustainable, diverse, ethical and innovative supply chain that optimises value for money for the UK taxpayer when sourcing goods and services	2024-2027	CE8
Support the maintenance of sustainable local economies for communities living near NDA sites and, where possible, contribute to regional economic growth	2024-2027	CE10
Provide opportunities for the public and stakeholders to better understand our mission, comment on and influence NDA planning and decision making, and draw on the knowledge and experience of stakeholders	2024-2027	CE11
Be a world leader in facilitating international collaboration in nuclear decommissioning	2024-2027	CE13
Develop strategic opportunities that optimise delivery of the mission	2024-2027	-
Actively participate in the Government’s Energy Security Plan and provide support on nuclear new build decommissioning plans	2024-2027	-
Develop a group-wide accommodation strategy (including welfare, warehousing, transport and logistics) allowing effective re-use of the operational land and creating great places to work	2024-2027	-
Continue to engage with UK and international bodies and partners to share our learning and knowledge, learn from others, and support development of improved approaches to decommissioning and clean-up	2024-2027	-
Implement Government led reforms of public sector pensions across the NDA group	2024-2027	-

Sellafield Limited

Sellafield Ltd is an NDA subsidiary, responsible for delivering the NDA mission, through operating and decommissioning Europe’s largest and most complex nuclear site. This includes cleaning up nuclear facilities and safeguarding nuclear fuel, materials, and waste - creating a clean and safe environment for future generations.

Planned expenditure for 2024/25 - £2,800 million

Site in Cumbria 

276 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated

0 hectares 

All 276 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

The portfolio of work is balanced around the following priorities:

• Safely guarding and keeping secure Special Nuclear Material

• Reducing risk and hazard in high hazard areas

• Keeping the nation’s lights on through management of AGR fuel and facilitating the effective defueling of reactors

• Ensuring the infrastructure is resilient

• Keeping enabling activities off the critical path

• Progressing risk and hazard reduction in other site areas

• Supporting the NDA group material consolidation

Important milestones 2024-2027

• Continue to receive and dismantle AGR fuel from EDF Energy

• Progress analytical services capability

• Continued roll out of asset management plans and continuous improvements

• Sustained retrievals from the legacy ponds and silos

• Continue to support the NDA Alpha Resilience Capability (ARC) Programme

• Continued focus on supporting a low carbon future

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• All buildings decommissioned - TBD

• All land remediated - 2125

• All land dedesignated - 2125

TBD is shown when the date for completing the strategic outcome is not sufficiently clear for a specific date to be given at this time.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Spent Fuels
Spent Magnox Fuels
Continue to interim store in the Fuel Handling Plant (FHP) remnant Magnox fuel and fuels recovered from the First-Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP)	2024-2027	4
Continue to receive fuels from First Generation Magnox Storage Pond (FGMSP)	2024-2027	2
Complete the Enterprise Integrated Fuel Study to support the lifecycle management of spent fuels across the NDA estate	2024-2027	4
Spent Oxide Fuel
Enhance the capacity to receive/manage and interim store Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) spent fuel from EDF Energy to support bulk defueling	2024-2027	6, 9
Spent Exotic Fuel
Prepare for the receipt and management of future Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) fuel	2024-2027	12,14
Integrated Waste Management
Low Level Waste
Continue to generate savings and preserve capacity at the Low-Level Waste Repository (LLWR) by enhancing capability to divert waste from LLWR and into the supply chain	2024-2027	27
Intermediate Level Waste
Support risk reduction from Legacy Ponds through continued removal of fuel and waste from the facilities	2024-2027	31
Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) • Continue retrievals from MSSS • Progress the capability required for bulk retrievals	2024-2027	31
Continue retrievals from Pile Fuel Cladding Silo (PFCS)	2024-2027	31
Support the NDA’s strategy by continuing the programmes to receive and treat waste materials from Harwell and AWE Aldermaston	2024-2027	32
Support future waste treatment through implementing the capability to actively demonstrate characterisation, size reduction and decommissioning	2024-2027	32
Support risk reduction by developing additional capability for treatment of intermediate level liquid wastes (Site Ion Exchange Effluent Plant (SIXEP) Continuity Plant (SCP))	2024-2027	32
Continue to support industry and health care in the management of used radioactive sources	2024-2027	32
Ensure continued storage capacity in the SIXEP facility, including the identification of alternatives to additional storage such as treatment	2024-2027	33
Complete studies on retrieval and treatment of SIXEP stored ILW at enterprise and programme level	2024-2027	33
High Level Waste
Continue the programme to repatriate overseas-owned vitrified waste to its country of origin	2024-2027	38
Support risk reduction through the continued vitrification of highly active liquor	2024-2027	38
Nuclear Materials
Plutonium
Continue the safe and secure storage of plutonium by developing the capability to repack plutonium, along with future storage capacity, in line with UK policy	2024-2027	18, 19
Continue to support NDA Disposition Programme stand-up, including delivery of the early ‘residues to waste’ opportunity	2024-2027	20
Continue to support the NDA Alpha Resilience Capability (ARC) Programme	2024-2027	18, 20
Uranium
Support future decommissioning and commercial plans by implementing plans for consolidated storage and potential transfer / export of Sellafield Uranics	2024-2027	22, 24
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and demolition
Continue Post Operational Clean Out (POCO) activities on key facilities	2024-2027	42
Continue to progress the Low Active Effluent Treatment Plant Retrieval Project to enable bulk flocculant removal	2024-2027	42
Continued delivery of priority Alpha Decommissioning scope	2024-2027	42
Continue progress of legacy hazard removal and demolition	2024-2027	43
Sites
Continue to progress Calder Land clearance to support SIXEP Contingency Plant (SCP) and the SIXEP Waste Management Plant (SWM)	2024-2027	47
Progress new site wide end state assumptions	2024-2027	45

Critical Enablers
Implementation of approved Near Term Resource Plan to ensure resources are deployed in the right place, at the right time. This will incorporate a focus on early career learners to underpin mission delivery	2024-2027	CE6
Apprentice training contract mobilisation and transition to support a range of apprenticeships at Sellafield Limited from September 2024	2024-2025	CE6
Continue to embed the Sellafield security enhancement programme	2024-2027	CE3
Manage and deliver asset management and continuous improvement capability and performance to support mission delivery	2024-2027	CE7
Lead and manage the development of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI) across the NDA group to improve safer operations and increase performance and effectiveness	2024-2027	CE5
Develop and embed the long-term partnerships with the supply chain with a focus on Infrastructure Delivery Partnership, Decommissioning Nuclear Waste Partnership and the Projects and Asset Care Execution contracts	2024-2027	CE8
Support small and medium enterprise organisations by increasing overall spend with them in line with the Government growth agenda	2024-2027	CE8
Continue to progress and embed sustainability, supporting the NDA’s sustainability vision, to be recognised as a leader in transforming nuclear legacies into opportunities for local, regional, and national sustainable development, ensuring that our mission outcomes and the journey to deliver them are sustainable	2024-2027	CE2
Develop and maintain a Carbon Management Plan which considers aspects of energy consumption and explores techniques and technologies to reduce the carbon burden in delivering the mission	2024-2027	CE1, CE2
Ensure discharges are in line with UK discharge strategy	2024-2027	-
Continue to support future business requirements including the development and embedding of a value-led culture	2024-2027	-
Progress the transformation of project delivery on site and continue to embed the benefits of the Programme and Project Partnership (PPP)	2024-2027	-
Continue the programme to ensure the analytical services capability is available to support the mission	2024-2027	-
Implementation of an overarching Infrastructure Strategy which supports and enables delivery of the future mission	2024-2027	-
Continue to progress the land programme to ensure Sellafield Ltd has the land and property available (and this is optimised appropriately) to deliver the mission	2024-2027	-
In collaboration with Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) Sellafield Ltd will support the Higher Activity Waste Thermal Treatment (HAWTT) Strategic Case for Change (SCfC)	2024-2027	-
Continue to enable improvements in delivery of the Sellafield business mission through the exploitation of digital approaches	2024-2027	-
Continue with improvements to the site utilities infrastructure	2024-2027	-

Nuclear Restoration Services

Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) was launched in October 2023 as the new brand for Magnox Ltd. This operating company is structured into two delivery businesses - the sites delivery business, which includes the 12 sites previously known as Magnox, and the Dounreay delivery business.

NRS is responsible for the safe delivery of value for money decommissioning and restoration of nuclear sites ensuring all our futures are safe, secure and sustainable.

NRS Dounreay Delivery Business

Dounreay is Scotland’s largest decommissioning project, located in the north of Scotland.

For more than 50 years it was known as the centre of the UK’s fast reactor research and development and now the team is aiming to be recognised as a centre of excellence for nuclear decommissioning.

NRS Dounreay Delivery Business is responsible for decommissioning the Dounreay site. It also operates a Low Level Waste (LLW) disposal facility to deal with waste from the site.

Planned expenditure for 2024/25 - £225 million

Site in Northern Scotland

60 hectares  (plus 12 hectares designated for LLW facility) in Caithness.

Hectares dedesignated

0 hectares 

60 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence, the 12 for the LLW facility are designated but not licensed.

Our interim end point (IEP) relates to achieving the following phases of work:

• All buildings no longer required to be demolished

• All waste generated to be in its final packaged state and in its designated storage facility, permitted disposal location or responsibility transferred.

• Site land and services remediated to an optimised state

The interim end point (IEP) is to ensure the site’s condition is suitable for its future land use; higher activity waste can be retrieved for disposal and the site has implemented the required ongoing security arrangements.

Highlights 2024-2027

• Natural and depleted uranium, 100% offsite (completed 2024)

• Fuel Cycle Area (FCA) raffinate immobilised

• Drum Cementation Plant (DCP) store extension II operational

• Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) defueled

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - TBD

• Free from nuclear materials - TBD

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All buildings decommissioned or relicensed - TBD

• All land demonstrated as suitable for reuse - TBD

• All land dedesignated or reused - TBD

TBD is shown when the date for completing the strategic outcome is not sufficiently clear for a specific date to be given at this time.

Key activities

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Spent Fuel
Spent Exotic Fuel
DFR - complete removal of in reactor DFR breeder fuel and transfer to interim storage	2024-2027	11
DFR - progress transport of dry breeder shipments to Sellafield	2024-2027	12
Integrated Waste Management
Low Level Waste
Continue transfer of LLW to LLW facility	2024-2027	27
Complete LLW stores decant phase 2	2024-2025	27
Intermediate Level Waste
PFR raffinate immobilisation complete	2024-2027	32
DCP ILW stores active commissioning and handover to operations	2024-2025	12
Remote handling and contract handleable intermediate waste treatment facility outline business case produced	2024-2026	40
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and demolition
PFR - reactor vessel residual sodium treatment facility actively commissioned and handed over to operations	2024-2026	42
PFR – completion of ventilation replacement and stack demolition	2024-2025	42
PFR – Tanks 1 and 2 Sodium removed and treated	2024-2027	42
FCA – D1203 ventilation replacement and decommissioning complete	2024-2027	42
FCA – D1204 Medium Active Cell decommissioned	2024-2025	42
FCA – D1217 Cell and drains decommissioning complete ready to handover to demolition phase	2024-2027	42
Balance of site – Shaft and Silo advanced transition works complete	2024-2025	42
Dedesignate or Reuse
NDA and regulatory permissioning in support of the Interim End State definition and arrangements for Dounreay	2024-2027	44
Low Level Waste Pits Environmental Safety Case complete	2024-2025	42
Critical Enablers
Support small and medium enterprise organisations by increasing overall spend with them in line with the Government growth agenda	2024-2027	CE8
Continue enhancement of cyber security capability and IT infrastructure	2024-2027	CE4
Optimise asset management capability and performance to support mission delivery	2024-2027	CE7
Continue the Dounreay Delivery Business and Sites Delivery Business integration	2024-2027	-

NRS Sites Delivery Business

NRS Sites Delivery Business is responsible for decommissioning, restoring, and remediating the ex Magnox sites, and the former research sites at Harwell and Winfrith. This business unit also has one hydro-electric power station, Maentwrog.

The original strategy for the sites was to remediate the hazard to implement a low-cost care and maintenance period from the 2030s. Following the quiescence period, the final structures would be removed. We now have greater experience, better understanding, and up-to-date knowledge.

A change in decommissioning strategy to Site Specific Strategies (SSS) is being developed which considers all contributing factors for that site as well as the strategic and funding pressures on the NRS portfolio. This will support the Rolling Programme of Decommissioning (RPD) strategy, which approaches decommissioning in a phased way, aims to reduce the overall cost, duration, and uncertainty of the company mission, enabling further beneficial re-use of some of our land for other purposes.

We endeavour to support economic growth and job creation by continuing to drive progress against a short-term plan with clear milestones. Each site will also have long-term options identified and decision points on both the decommissioning strategy and the end state. This will allow us to consider opportunities for more innovative approaches, based on the technology and external factors of the time, and provide a basis for ongoing engagement and consultation on our strategies for site decommissioning. To recognise the uncertainties in the long term, we have chosen to set out approximate dates that our best estimates of the earliest available options encompass rather than setting out specific dates for our milestones. The current best estimates for end state dates have been included in the 2024-2027 NDA Business Plan and reflect the work done to date on near-term plans and medium-term plans. These estimates are subject to change as we develop our plans and take account of contributing factors including HMG priorities, funding and approvals.

For example, further changes, as we develop our RPD plans, are liable to arise as we seek to integrate and optimise the Sites Delivery Business plans with those of the AGRs and indeed any other future missions which NRS may be asked to support in due course. We know that as we evolve our RPD plans, these will increasingly need to consider incorporating the AGR sites as and when they are handed-over post de-fueling.

Planned expenditure for 2024/25 - £540 million

Key activities

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Nuclear Materials
Uranium
Continue the programme for the transfer of nuclear materials including regulatory permissioning	2024-2027	22
Integrated Waste Management
Low Level Waste
Delivery of the Sites Delivery Business elements of the LLW Management Plan including diversion to alternative treatment including development of updated Integrated Waste Strategy	2024-2027	26, 27, 28, 29
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Continue to pursue opportunities to consolidate NRS ILW to interim stores	2024-2027	33
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and demolition
Continue estate decommissioning and demolition activities in line with individual site plans	2024-2027	42, 43
Continue reactor decommissioning	2024-2027	42
Continue to manage and remove asbestos	2024-2027	42
Continue development of site specific strategies as part of a rolling programme of decommissioning	2024-2027	42
Dedesignate or Reuse
Continue working with regulators to ensure appropriately scaled management arrangements and permissioning for Interim States and Interim End States are determined and agreed	2024-2027	44, 45
Development of Interim State approaches, utilising revised management arrangements	2024-2027	44
Monitoring of management and maintenance arrangements for sites in Care and Maintenance	2024-2027	44
Progress land quality activities to support suitability for reuse	2024-2027	44, 46
Progress land dedesignation and release to support reuse	2024-2027	47
Provision of support to nuclear new build	2024-2027	47
Critical Enablers
Support small and medium enterprise organisations by increasing overall spend with them in line with the Government growth agenda	2024-2027	CE8
Continue enhancement of Cyber Security Capability and IT infrastructure	2024-2027	CE4
Optimise Asset Management capability and performance to support mission delivery	2024-2027	CE7
Progress development of workforce capability and skills for decommissioning in NRS and the supply chain	2024-2027	CE6
Develop and deliver to the sustainability agenda	2024-2027	CE2
Identify and realise opportunities in research, development and innovation	2024-2027	CE5
Support Government in activities to deliver preparations for decommissioning the Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor fleet as they reach a fuel free state	2024-2027	-
Continue the Dounreay Delivery Business and Sites Delivery Business integration	2024-2027	-

Berkeley

Site in Gloucestershire 

27 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

11 hectares - 16 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2060s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2025	30
Complete design and build of the Gravel and Amalgam Retrieval Plant	2024-2027	30
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW wastes	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Commence the deplant and demolition of the Caesium Removal Plant	2025-2027	42, 43
Continue to progress the asbestos and plant removal from the blower houses	2024-2027	42, 43

Bradwell

in care and maintenance

Site in Essex 

20 hectares

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 20 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2080s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Dedesignate and Reuse
Ongoing management of site during Care and Maintenance period	2024-2027	44

Chapelcross

Site in Dumfries and Galloway 

96 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 96 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2060s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW wastes	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Progress preparations for pond draining and stabilisation including waste retrievals	2024-2027	42
Prepare and execute land remediation of the cooling tower basins	2024-2025	46
Commence and progress turbine hall asbestos removal	2025-2027	42

Dungeness A

Site in Kent 

20 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 20 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2050s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW wastes	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Continue to progress activities supporting consolidated ILW storage	2024-2027	30
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Commence and progress decommissioning the Active Effluent Treatment facilities	2024-2027	42
Prepare and progress the demolition of the boilers and associated buildings	2024-2027	43

Harwell

Site in Oxfordshire 

107 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

23 hectares - 84 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2050s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Nuclear Materials
Uranium
Continue the programme for the transfer of nuclear materials	2024-2027	22
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue preparations for decommissioning of the Radiochemistry Facility (B220)	2024-2027	42
Continue decommissioning, demolition, land remediation, reinstatement and delicensing of the Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant (LETP)	2024-2027	42, 43, 46
Continue preparations for the decommissioning of the British Experimental Pile Zero reactor (BEP0))	2024-2027	42
Continue preparations and planning for the decommissioning of the Active Waste Handling facility (B459)	2024-2027	42
Dedesignate or Reuse
Continue incremental release of land to the Harwell campus through targeted demolitions, remediation and clearance of land tracts	2023-2026	42, 43, 47

Hinkley Point A

Site in Somerset 

19 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 19 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2060s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue and complete asbestos removal from the reactor building	2024-2027	42
Continue to progress the deplanting of the reactor building	2024-2027	42

Hunterston A

Site in Ayrshire 

15 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 15 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2050s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Commissioning of the solid ILW encapsulation plant	2024-2027	32
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue the decommissioning of the Active Effluent Treatment facilities	2024-2027	42
Continue to progress the deplanting of the reactor building	2024-2027	42
Continue to progress the deplanting of the cooling pond overbuilding	2024-2027	42

Oldbury

Site in South Gloucestershire 

47 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

32 hectares - 15 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2080s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities supporting consolidated ILW storage	2024-2027	33
Commence the design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW (at Berkeley)	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue to progress the decommissioning of the Active Effluent Treatment facilities	2024-2027	42
Commence and progress the asbestos removal, deplant and demolition of the turbine hall	2024-2027	42
Commence the asbestos removal from the reactor building	2024-2027	42

Sizewell A

Site in East Suffolk 

14 hectares

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 14 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2070s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to support consolidation of ILW storage	2024-2027	33
Commence design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Intermediate Level Waste
Commence and progress the decommissioning of the Active Effluent Treatment facilities	2024-2027	42
Progress and complete the asbestos removal, deplant and demolition of the turbine hall	2024-2025	42
Commence and progress the asbestos removal from the boiler houses	2024-2027	42

Trawsfynydd

Our lead and learn site for rolling decommissioning

Site in North Wales 

15 hectares

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 15 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2050s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue and complete activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2025	30, 32, 33
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Commence, prepare, and progress reactor building height reduction	2024-2027	43
Continue deplanting, decommissioning and demolition of the ponds complex facility	2024-2027	42
Commence and progress preparations for reactor dismantling	2024-2027	42, 43

Winfrith

Site in Dorset 

81 hectares 

Hectares dedesignated 

10 hectares - 71 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2036*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Low Level Waste
Complete shipments of LLW drums from Treated Radwaste Store to LLWR	2024-2025	28
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue DRAGON reactor decommissioning, including the completion of the construction and installation of the core segmentation equipment	2024-2027	42
Continue SGHWR decommissioning, including the completion of the construction and installation of the core segmentation equipment	2024-2027	42
Commence and progress the removal of the discharge pipelines	2024-2027	42
Continue land remediation activities and end state development	2024-2027	46

Wylfa

Site in Anglesey 

21 hectares

Hectares dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 21 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• Free from spent fuel - Achieved

• Free from nuclear materials - Achieved

• All radioactive waste disposed - TBD

• All land in end state - all planned physical work complete - c.2080s*

*This is our best estimate of the earliest date to achieve milestones but is based on a number of dependences, assumptions, risks and exclusions and is subject to site specific strategy development and approval.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Continue to progress activities to retrieve, treat and store ILW	2024-2027	30, 32, 33
Continue to progress design and build of ILW retrieval plant	2024-2027	30
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Commence and progress the isolation, asbestos removal, deplant and demolition of the turbine hall	2024-2027	42

Nuclear Waste Services

Nuclear Waste Services’ (NWS) vision and mission is vitally important to the UK today and for future generations. It’s here to make nuclear waste permanently safe, sooner, and its mission is to become the ‘one-stop shop’ for the management of nuclear waste in the UK.

The creation of NWS in January 2022 brought together the expertise of LLW Repository Ltd (LLWR), Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), and the NDA group’s Integrated Waste Management Programme (IWMP). With a view of the full waste management cycle, its skilled workforce is developing new treatment technologies and services to overcome the challenges of managing and disposing of nuclear waste safely and securely.  

Planned expenditure for 2024/25 - £247 million

Site in Cumbria 

100 hectares

Hectares Dedesignated 

0 hectares - All 100 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence.

Our strategic objectives are:

• Be leaders in the application of the nuclear waste hierarchy to ensure that the right waste is placed in the right package and is disposed of at the right facility.

• Support accelerated decommissioning through innovation with waste streams managed in the most sustainable and efficient way, supported by technology development and expertise, setting worldwide standards, and delivering value for money for the UK taxpayer. 

Important milestones

2024

• Optimise the business, delivering efficiency commitments by 2024/25

• Establish a group wide waste characterisation service by 2024/25

• Capping will start on the LLWR Repository in 2024/25* 

2025

• Introduce a standard container catalogue by 2025/26

2026

• Decision to government on communities to progress to deep borehole investigation and increased community investment by 2026/27

Site progress (achieved and expected)

• All buildings decommissioned or relicensed - TBD

• All land demonstrated as suitable for reuse - TBD

• All land dedesignated or reused - 2135 (*)

TBD is shown when the date for completing the strategic outcome is not sufficiently clear for a specific date to be given at this time.

(*) indicates activities related to specific work at NWS Low Level Waste Repository site

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Integrated Waste Management
Intermediate Level Waste
Work with consigning site licence companies (SLCs) to improve waste forecast and inventory and continue segregated waste, treatment, and disposal services	2024-2027	26 to 39
Manage and operate LLWR site safely to provide an effective UK disposal service*	2024-2027	26, 30 , 34
Implement Government policy on geological disposal of higher activity waste presenting our decision to government to proceed towards deep borehole investigation	2024-2027	5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 34, 39
Matured preparation of Development Consent Order (DCO) and environmental permit applications for deep boreholes, to support GDF Programme schedule	2024-2027	5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 34, 39
Establish an innovation partnership for asbestos	2024-2027	27, 29, 34, 39
Establish a waste characterisation standard group-wide service	2024-2027	34, 39
Deliver LLWR site Environmental Safety Case*	2024-2027	34, 39, 41
Continue to explore the feasibility of the development of a Near Surface Disposal capability for some ILW, subject to Government policy	2024-2027	34
In collaboration with Sellafield Ltd, Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) will support the Higher Activity Waste Thermal Treatment (HAWTT) Strategic Case for Change (SCfC)	2024-2027	35 to 39
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Support hazard reduction across the NDA group	2024-2027	44, 45, 46, 47
Introduce a standard NDA group waste container catalogue	2024-2027	26 to 30, 32 to 39
Complete enabling works for phased construction and start of the final capping work for the LLWR site*	2024-2027	42 to 47
Critical enablers
Continue enhancement of cyber security and IT infrastructure	2024-2027	CE5
Mature and deliver asset management and continuous improvement capability and performance to support mission delivery	2024-2027	CE7
Develop and implement a Sustainability strategy	2024-2027	CE2
Continue to pursue overall cost savings in delivery of the Lifetime Plan	2024-2027	-
Implement NWS Lifetime Plan	2024-2027	-

Nuclear Transport Solutions

Established in 2021, Nuclear Transport Solutions (NTS) is a centre of excellence and a strategic UK capability for the transport of radioactive and other critical materials.

Delivering our mission relies on being able to transport radioactive materials and other freight safely and sustainably. NTS supports this by transporting spent nuclear fuel from UK power stations to Sellafield, returning reprocessed products to customers overseas, and providing packaging and licensing solutions to the NDA group.

It also generates revenue through commercial opportunities in the UK and overseas – offsetting the cost of delivering decommissioning and clean-up work at the UK’s oldest nuclear sites.

NTS operates Direct Rail Services (DRS) and Pacific Nuclear Transport Ltd (PNTL) to deliver rail and shipping services for customers, building on decades of experience of providing safe, secure and reliable transport solutions.

Planned expenditure for 2024/25 - £84 million

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Spent Fuels - Spent Oxide Fuel
Support AGR fuel movements by rail for EDF from stations to Sellafield, including preparations for the AGR defueling programme	2024-2027	6
Nuclear Materials - Plutonium and Uranium
Support national nuclear material rail movements for Harwell and Dounreay	2024-2027	22
Integrated Waste Management - High Level Waste
Continue to deliver important international transports of vitrified High Level Waste (HLW) and conditioned Intermediate Level Waste (ILW)	2024-2027	34, 38
Critical Enablers
Establish and implement an Integrated Transport Programme to identify opportunities and realise benefits from better coordination and optimisation of NDA group transports	2024-2027	CE12
Seek opportunities for new business within nuclear shipping, rail, packaging and design by providing transport enabling solutions to UK and international markets	2024-2027	CE12
Maintain and operate a fleet of specialist transport assets which meet the highest standards of quality, safety and security in order to support NDA operations	2024-2027	CE12
Attract and retain the necessary skills, capability and diversity of talent to deliver business in a safe, secure and reliable manner	2024-2027	CE6
Develop and implement a carbon reduction plan to successfully achieve carbon net zero aspirations	2024-2027	CE1, CE2
Undertake appropriate non-nuclear business to maintain and enhance the skills and capabilities required to support the core nuclear mission	2024-2027	-
Support the discharge of NDA obligations with respect to MOD nuclear rail transportation	2024-2027	-
Continue to deliver NDA’s contractual obligations for transport of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel from France to Japan	2024-2027	-

NDA Archives Limited

NDA Archives is an NDA subsidiary, responsible for Nucleus (the Nuclear and Caithness Archives) and related operational activities across the NDA group. The Nucleus facility is currently operated by a commercial partner and provides the centre of excellence for long-term records management, archive services, digital preservation and heritage management.

Key activities	Timescale
Critical Enablers
Engaging in a programme of continual improvement with the commercial partner for operations at Nucleus	2024-2026
Continuing to meet the environmental targets set across the NDA group in alignment with our obligations under the Greening Government Commitments Scheme	2024-2027
Development of accommodation options, including strategies/proposals for dealing with increased capacity needs at Nucleus and the NDA group’s material and samples management and storage requirements	2024-2027
NRS Sites Delivery Business collection sift completed and ready for accession	2024-2027
Sellafield off-site collection sift completed and ready for accession	2024-2027

NDA Properties Limited

NDA Properties Ltd is an NDA subsidiary, holding and managing the majority of the non-nuclear property assets within the NDA group.

Key activities	Timescale
Critical Enablers
Effective and efficient management and assurance of retained landholding consisting of 1,106 hectares across 87 properties	2024-2027
Review and deliver progressive environmental stewardship across the portfolio estate. Identify beneficial projects and collaborate in delivering these for community or environmental gain. Support NDA work on nature recovery plans and bio-diversity net gain initiatives	2024-2027
Proactively dispose/release surplus assets no longer required by the NDA group or wider parts of Government, including those that have high socio-economic value	2024-2027
To engage and collaborate with NDA group and stakeholders to target carbon reduction opportunities to support achieving carbon net zero objectives	2024-2027

Rutherford Indemnity Limited 

Rutherford Indemnity Limited provides insurance cover for the NDA group. The company is a wholly-owned subsidiary, managed for the NDA by Marsh Management Services Guernsey Limited, and has no direct employees.

Key activities	Timescale
Critical Enablers
Provide optimal insurance coverage to the NDA to support its NDA group-wide insurance programme, exploiting opportunities to reduce overall cost of insurance risk and offering insurance solutions (including support for claims handling enhancements) to meet the evolving needs of the group	2024-2027
Continue to deliver the target return on the investment portfolio, protecting Rutherford’s ability to offer insurance on a cost-effective basis, maintaining liquidity in order to be able to respond promptly to a major loss	2024-2027
Continue to use a prudent proportion of Rutherford’s assets to support infrastructure investment within the NDA group	2024-2027
Maintain capability for payment of dividends to the shareholder	2024-2027

Energus

Energus is an NDA subsidiary offering conference and events facilities and a range of training, education and business support services geared to providing and enhancing skills within both the local and national nuclear workforce.

Key activities	Timescale
Critical Enablers
Continue to work closely with the NDA and stakeholders across the nuclear sector to upskill and develop the workforce of today and tomorrow	2024-2027
Continue to manage and facilitate a range of training opportunities for the NDA group and wider nuclear sector, including: • Nuclear Graduates • functional programmes for both graduates and apprentices including cyber security, finance, audit and risk, radiation protection, commercial, business and civil engineering • bespoke programmes to support the NDA People Strategy and the British Energy Security Strategy • Support the development of the NDA group Graduate Scheme	2024-2027
Continue to work in partnership with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and NDA Cyber Security Resilience Programme (CSRP) to deliver a pipeline of cyber security young talent into the sector including: • CyberFirst • Level 3 programme to Energy Coast UTC • Apprentices • Graduates and be the venue of choice for Cyber Security training in the North West	2024-2027
Provide a range of managed services within the people and skills arena including recruitment programmes, work experience and STEM engagement – supporting the NDA commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and achieving greater levels of social value and socio economic benefit to our communities and broader stakeholders	2024-2027
Provide a high quality training environment for all Sellafield apprentices, working with a range of education partners and suppliers	2024-2027
Continue to be a Cumbrian venue of choice for the NDA group’s events, conferences and delivery of training and education	2024-2027

Springfields

Planned expenditure for 2024/254 - £18 million

81 hectare site in Lancashire. 

All 81 hectares remain covered by the nuclear site licence. 

Springfields Fuels Ltd (SFL) is owned by Westinghouse Electric UK Holdings Ltd

Springfields is a nuclear fuel manufacturing site and is located near Preston in Lancashire. The site is operated by SFL and is used to manufacture a range of fuel products for UK and international customers, the processing of historic uranic residues and decommissioning of redundant facilities.

From April 2010, the NDA permanently transferred ownership of the company to Westinghouse Electric including the ability to invest for the future under the terms of a new 150-year lease. SFL is contracted to provide decommissioning and clean-up services to the NDA to address historic liabilities.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Nuclear Materials
Uranium
Continue to appropriately manage, care and maintain NDA stock of uranic materials	2024-2027	23, 25
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue decommissioning of the Magnox Island	2024-2026	42, 43

Capenhurst

Planned expenditure for 2024/25  - £17 million

30 hectare site in Cheshire 

17 hectares have been dedesignated 

Modification of Designating Direction signed by the Minister in May 2010 and July 2012. Remaining 13 hectares are covered by the nuclear site licence.

Urenco Nuclear Stewardship (UNS) is owned by URENCO.

The NDA Capenhurst site is located near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.

In 2012, the site was transferred to URENCO, owners of the adjacent licenced site, and was amalgamated into a single nuclear licensed site.  As part of this transfer, URENCO established UNS, formerly known as Capenhurst Nuclear Services (CNS), to provide management of uranic materials and carry out remediation work on behalf of the NDA.

UNS manages a large proportion of the NDA’s uranic inventory and provides broader decommissioning and demolition works for redundant facilities, in order to reduce liability and optimise space utilisation on site.

Key activities	Timescale	Strategic outcome
Nuclear Materials
Uranium
Continue the safe storage and management of uranic materials, including uranium hexafluoride tails prior to processing through the Tails Management Facility	2024-2027	22, 23, 24, 25
Site Decommissioning and Remediation
Decommissioning and Demolition
Continue decommissioning of key facilities	2024-2026	41, 42, 43, 47

Delivery of our mission up to 2042 - Spent Fuels and Nuclear Materials

Delivery of our mission up to 2042 - Integrated Waste Management and Site Decommissioning and Remediation

Useful links

• Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

• Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

• Sellafield Ltd

• Nuclear Restoration Services

• Nuclear Waste Services

• Nuclear Transport Solutions

• URENCO Ltd

• Springfields Fuels Ltd

Useful documentation

• The NDA group Sustainability Strategy 2022

• NDA Strategy - March 2021

• NDA Annual Report and Accounts 2022 to 2023

• NDA Business Plan 2022 to 2025 and NDA Business Plan 2023 to 2026

• NDA Mission Progress Report 2023

• NDA Research and Development 5 year plan: 2019 to 2024

• Nuclear Decommissioning: attracting and retaining skills (brochure) Nov 2016

• NDA group gender pay gap report: 2021 to 2022

• Register of Director’s Interests and associated procedure

• NDA: working with our communities

• NDA areas of research interest

Glossary

AGR - Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor

BEIS - Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

BOS -Balance of Site

DESNZ - Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

CAPEX - Capital expenditure

DCP - Dounreay Cementation Plant

DFR - Dounreay Fast Reactor

DRS - Direct Rail Services Ltd

DSRL - Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd

EDFE - EDF Energy

ED&I - Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

FCA - Fuel Cycle Area

FGMSP - First Generation Magnox Storage Pond

FHP - Fuel Handling Plant

GDF - Geological Disposal Facility

HAL - Highly Active Liquor

ILW - Intermediate Level Waste

INS - International Nuclear Services Ltd

LETP - Liquid Effluent Treatment Plant

LLW - Low Level Waste

LLWR - Low Level Waste Repository

MOD - Ministry of Defence

MOX - Mixed Oxide Fuel

MSSS - Magnox Swarf Storage Silo

NDA - Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

NDAPL - NDA Properties Ltd

NTS - Nuclear Transport Solutions

NWS - Nuclear Waste Services

POCO - Post Operational Clean Out

PFR - Prototype Fast Reactor

PFSP - Pile Fuel Storage Pond

PPP - Programme and Project Partners

RD&I - Research, Development and Innovation

RWM - Radioactive Waste Management Ltd

SGHWR - Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor

SLC - Site Licence Company

SME - Small and Medium Enterprise

THORP - Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant

UKGI - UK Government Investments