Sellafield Rising Costs Radiate Gloom

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06 March 2015 | Updated 01 January 1970

According to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority a year ago, the controversial nuclear power plant in Cumbria, North West England, was supposed to be cleaned up for £48 billion.

This amount has now jumped to £53 billion in a report published this week by the National Audit Office. A further disappointment is that work on the site is behind schedule.

This has led the formidable chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) to state that the jump in overall cost was 'astonishing'. The schedule for the clean up – due for completion by 2120 – and the handling by the company originally awarded the £9 billion contract, Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), led in January to end of its involvement.

The GMB trades union was quick to criticise the latest news. "Poor value for money, poor top NMP management and a lack of grip on key issues in an essential area for the UK energy sector, as well as the UK economy, have led to unbelievable decisions on expenditure," declared Chris Jukes, Regional Officer, GMB.

On 11 March, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Department of Energy and Climate Change, NMP, and Sellafield Ltd will face the music when it has a meeting with PAC and Ms Hodge.

Picture:    The Sellafield site is facing further rises in the cost of its decommissioning and cleaning up.

Article written by Cathryn Ellis | Published 06 March 2015

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