Introduction

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a new organisation. It was set up by the government and started to operate in April 2005. Its purpose is to create a UK wide plan to clean up existing public sector nuclear sites. The business of the NDA is environmental restoration.

On 29th November 2005, the Prime Minister Tony Blair announced a wide-scale review of the UK's future energy needs to specifically look into the option of building new nuclear power stations. The results of the review were published in the summer of 2006.

Nuclear power is an important source of energy in this country, accounting for about 20% of energy supplies.

Nuclear power is an important source of energy in this country, accounting for about 20% of energy supplies. This figure is small when compared with a country like France that generates almost 75% of its energy needs from nuclear power stations. It is important for Britain to develop new energy sources because oil and gas supplies are declining. Before it does so, however, it is important to make sure that existing sites are cleaned up safely.

A planning framework

This case study shows how the NDA is working to a well-organised planning framework to achieve its objectives. To understand the process of nuclear decommissioning, it is helpful to look at the life cycle of a typical reactor site.