Today marks the 20th anniversary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), established by the UK Government as part of the Energy Act 2004, to decommission the UK’s earliest nuclear sites.
The UK boasts a proud nuclear history, and the NDA has been pivotal in cleaning up the legacy facilities once at the heart of national defence and energy generation.
Since commencing operations on 1 April 2005, the NDA has overseen the clean-up of 17 sites, with the ultimate aim of remediating them for their next use.
Today, NDA staff are celebrating 20 years of progress reflecting on how the organisation has made the UK a safer place.
In the last month alone, the NDA and its operating companies have celebrated some significant milestones including demolishing the turbine hall at Sizewell A and completing the first rail deliveries of material for final capping at the low level waste repository which involves placing a protective layer over legacy disposal trenches which will remain in place for up to 100 years.
Other notable achievements being remembered include
- Commencing the first simultaneous retrievals of waste from Sellafield’s oldest storage ponds and silos, the NDA estate’s high hazard facilities.
- Safely defueling all of the Magnox reactors, removing 99 percent of the radioactive hazard on the sites housing them.
- Removing and safely destroying around 68 tonnes of highly radioactive liquid metal coolant from the Dounreay Fast Reactor, on the Dounreay site.
- Reprocessing 9,000 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel, generating £9 billion in revenue for UK.
- Producing and consolidating all plutonium which is now safely stored at Sellafield ahead of final disposal.
- Safely packaging and storing significant volumes of intermediate level waste retrieved from legacy facilities and AGR stations, including 50,000 boxes at Sellafield’s Retrievals East River.
- Re-using or recycling waste where possible, diverting 98% of waste from having to be disposed of at the NDA’s low level waste repository, preserving capacity and saving nearly £50 million in the past year alone, on top of more than £975 million saved over the past 15 years.
- Demolishing or reusing 274 buildings and releasing 9% of land for reuse or to be redesignated.
- Positive progress in delivering a GDF as the best approach for the long-term management of the most hazardous radioactive waste with three communities engaging in the process and site evaluations underway.
As well as the NDA, 2025 is year of anniversaries across the NDA group, including 30 years of Direct Rail Services, 50 years of Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited and Dounreay is celebrating 70 years.
NDA Group CEO, David Peattie, said
Our mission is unique, dating back to the UK’s nuclear origins in the1940s and expected to span into the next century. Much of what we do has never been done before and was never designed to be done.
We’ve made significant strides since 2005, including establishing the NDA group model which is enhancing our collaboration and efficiency in delivering our mission.
I am extremely proud of every single employee for the part they have played, and continue to play, in making the UK safer every day. My thanks not only extends to NDA employees, but also to the many individuals in our operating companies, supply chain and communities.
Ours is one of the most important environmental programmes on the planet. We have a responsibility to leave a positive legacy for the generations of the future and that’s something that will continue to drive us forward over the next 20 years and beyond.
The last 20 years have seen huge skyline changes because of the NDA group’s work include the demolition of the Chapelcross and Calder Hall cooling towers, and the twin reactors at Bradwell entering the care and maintenance state.
In addition, over the NDA’s lifetime Nuclear Transport Solutions has transported over 2000 casks of nuclear material by sea and conducted over 5 million miles of UK nuclear rail transports, with a 100% nuclear safety record.
The value the NDA group delivers for the country extends beyond its decommissioning mission. Keeping the nation safe and secure, supporting energy security ambitions, investing in research and technology, sharing best practice internationally and driving economic growth through jobs and billions of pounds of investment in the supply chain.
Since 2005, the NDA group has invested £277m of socio-economic funding to support significant projects that enable permanent and sustainable change in site communities, leveraging additional investment of nearly £4 for every £1.
It’s an impressive legacy for 20 years but with a mission stretching for many decades to come there’s still so much more to do. To find out more about what the NDA has achieved and its ambitions for the future watch the below.
20 years of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
