Summary
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) was established on 1st April 2005. It has taken over ownership all of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) sites, as well as those of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). The original focus for the NDA, as written in the White Paper 2002 in which it was first proposed, was that it should be "squarely on [dealing with] the nuclear legacy" .
It was also proposed the Government would fund the Authority, leaving it free to concentrate on clean up and decommissioning. We believe the NDA should be dealing only with legacy wastes and not be dependent on waste creating activities for any of its income. It should have been given a clearly defined objective, underscored with the environmental and organisational principles, including legal obligations to avoid or minimise waste creation - and a statutory duty to consult all stakeholders and the public at large.
Now that it exists, the NDA has the opportunity to tackle the UK's ever increasing stockpile of hazardous wastes. It should not stand by and squander this opportunity by allowing waste creating activities to continue. We hope that through the strategy consultation process it will act in an open and transparent way and apply the best principles of environmental protection - such as stopping reprocessing and not opening the MOX plant.
