Written Evidence submitted by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) (FNP 52)
This submission contains the following:
- About the NDA as a non-departmental public body, its role and how it is funded.
- About the Magnox power stations explaining NDA’s relevance to North Wales, the technological and decommissioning differences between each of the stations.
- NDA response to the Committee’s term of reference How the decommissioning of Wylfa and Trawsfynydd is being carried out. This section provides information on the four phases of decommissioning; the NDA’s approach in optimising the UK’s programme to provide speedy and efficient decommissioning while giving value to the UK taxpayer; and the progress made so far at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa.
- NDA response to the Committee’s term of reference What the economic impact of the decommissioning of Trawsfynydd will be. This section provides information on the NDA’s contribution to preparing the community around Trawsfynydd for the gradual reduction of jobs and the site’s eventual closure. The NDA’s contribution consists of three strands: socio-economic; developing skills; and developing a supply chain.
- NDA response to the Committee’s term of reference What potential there is for small modular reactors to be built at Trawsfynydd and how that will impact decommissioning and future planning. This section explains the basis on which the NDA forms its future planning and how it supports the Trawsfynydd community in securing new economic and employment opportunities.
2.1 Established in 2005, the NDA is responsible for managing the effective and efficient clean-up of the UK’s civil public sector nuclear legacy. This includes the UK’s first generation of Magnox power stations; various research and fuel facilities; and the largest and most complex site at Sellafield. In addition, the NDA is tasked with implementing government policy on higher activity radioactive waste and the low level waste strategy. The NDA also provides advice on the decommissioning plans for current and planned nuclear power stations.
2.2 The NDA is an Executive Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) reporting to the Department of Energy and Climate (DECC). The Shareholder Executive supports DECC in the governance of the NDA. We work with the devolved administrations in developing our strategy and plans. As an organisation we employ around 230 people. DECC and HM Treasury set our annual operational budget allocated through the Spending Review. Our budget is a combination of Government funding and income from commercial assets: e.g. spent fuel management and, until recently, electricity sales from the Wylfa power station.
2.3 In effect the NDA carries out its mission through Site Licence Companies (SLCs). The SLC for the Magnox and research sites (Harwell and Winfred) is Magnox Ltd. Contracts for the ownership of SLCs are awarded to a Parent Body Organisation (PBO) through a competitive bidding process. The PBO for Magnox Ltd is Cavendish Flour Partnership (CFP).
3.1 There are 11 Magnox reactor sites in the UK. Ten of these are under the management of Magnox Ltd and the eleventh is Calder Hall located on the Sellafield site. Two of the Magnox sites are in North Wales at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd. The Magnox reactors generated electricity from 1956 until 2015 when Wylfa ceased generating.
3.2 The technology of the Magnox reactors is fundamentally the same, so there are generic aspects that enable a common approach to much of the decommissioning process. However, because the Magnox design continued to develop across the fleet between 1956 until the late 1960’s, there are some variations in the reactor design between the sites, for example the fuel design. Consequently, the management of radioactive waste will vary across the sites.
3.3 These variations are an aspect for the Committee’s consideration when assessing decommissioning and in particular there are some distinctions between the Wylfa and Trawsfynydd stations. One example is the treatment of fuel element debris (FED), which mostly consists of magnesium alloy cladding that surrounded the nuclear fuel element. At some sites the cladding was removed before the spent fuel was sent to Sellafield. FED is being retrieved, treated and stored at Trawsfynydd. In contrast, spent fuel at Wylfa will be transferred to Sellafield without the removal of its cladding.
4.1 In the context of the Committee’s Inquiry it is important to distinguish in essence, the decommissioning of the Magnox reactor sites and the future decommissioning of reactors used in the new nuclear build programme. Essentially the main differences are:
- That modern reactors are designed with decommissioning in mind and this was not the case with the Magnox fleet;
- The way in which decommissioning is funded. For much of the generating lives of the Magnox fleet, funding for radioactive waste management and decommissioning was not considered. As a consequence funding for the Magnox programme is set out by DECC and HM Treasury in an annual operational budget allocated through the Spending Review. In contrast, funding for the decommissioning of the UK’s second generation of Advanced Gas-cooled (AGRs) and the Sizewell B Pressurised Water (PWR) reactors, owned and operated by EdF, has been put aside in the Nuclear Liabilities Fund established in 1996. A requirement for new build developers is that provision is to be set aside in an established decommissioning fund(s).
4.2 Following the end of generation a Magnox reactor will transition through four distinct phases:
4.2.1 Defueling when fuel is removed from the reactor and transported to Sellafield for reprocessing. When all of the fuel has been extracted from the reactors and then transferred to Sellafield for reprocessing, more than 99 per cent of the radioactive hazard will have been removed from the site. Following the end of generation, Wylfa is now entering the defueling phase, which will be completed in around 2019.
4.2.2 Care and Maintenance (C&M) preparations. The aim of the preparations is to make the site safe and to minimise the amount of maintenance required during care and maintenance. Typically the hazards presented by mobile wastes (e.g. sludge and resins) and conventional hazards such as asbestos, are made passively safe by placing into appropriate waste packages for interim storage or removed from the site. Trawsfynydd is currently in this phase.
4.2.3 C&M when the site and reactor buildings are left in a safe state until Final Site Clearance. Following intensive work programmes to deal with waste and demolish all conventional structures, C&M will leave sites with just a handful of facilities, including sealed-up reactors and, at a majority of sites, intermediate level waste stores which will remain in place for several decades. Upon reaching a stage when levels of radioactivity have substantially decreased the residual facilities on site will be dismantled (see below).
4.2.4 Final Site Clearance. It is the intention that following the development and provision of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) final decommissioning of the sites will take place. This will involve removal of the remaining wastes/hazards and transfer to the GDF. Waste processing facilities will be installed to characterise, segregate, treat and dispatch the waste materials. Reactor vessel dismantling facilities are constructed on top of the reactor pile cap to allow safe access to the vessel and removal of the materials contained within. Once these activities are complete the site will reach its designated end state, when the NDA’s mission for that site has been completed and the site is ready for its next planned use. Under current plans, the end states at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd will not be achieved for many decades. In its Draft Strategy, the NDA has been seeking views on the potential benefits of defining interim site end states to facilitate the setting of more realistic site objectives, such as the early release of some land for alternative use.
4.3 Lead and Learn
The NDA has a ‘lead and learn’ strategy aimed at optimising decommissioning to deliver the programme more efficiently across the Magnox sites. There are two ‘lead’ sites for decommissioning at Trawsfynydd and Bradwell in Essex. Lessons learned at the two sites are progressively being applied and built on across the entire Magnox fleet, achieving C&M status ahead of the dates originally expected at some of the remaining eight stations to be decommissioned whilst making substantial savings and better managing uncertainty for the UK taxpayers.
4.4 Trawsfynydd
Trawsfynydd commenced generation in 1965 and supplied 69 TWh of electricity over the 26 years until it ceased electricity generation in 1991. It was permanently shut down in 1993. Defueling was completed in 1995 and the site continues to prepare for entry into C&M. The site is scheduled to reach its designated end state during the 2080s. There are currently around 250 people employed at the site but this level will reduce substantially when the site enters into care and maintenance.
4.5 Wylfa
4.5.1 The Wylfa site was the last and largest Magnox power station to be built in the UK. Electricity generation started in 1971 and ceased in 2015. Between these years the station supplied 232 TWh of electricity, enough to power 1.1 million homes a year for 44 years. The site is currently in the defueling phase and is scheduled to reach its designated end state early next century. Wylfa currently employs around 500 people but this will reduce as the site transitions through the decommissioning phases.
4.5.2 Unlike the other Magnox sites including Trawsfynydd, the Magnox spent fuel from Wylfa does not require a period of storage in fuel ponds before it is dispatched to Sellafield for reprocessing. Instead, the irradiated fuel at Wylfa is transferred into one of three Primary Dry Fuel Stores. This dry fuel storage will result in significantly less radioactive contamination and much smaller quantities of radioactive waste that require packaging and storage during C&M preparations compared with Trawsfynydd.
5.1 The NDA recognises that as sites move towards eventual closure, the declining staff numbers may also have an adverse social and economic impact on communities. This becomes more apparent at Trawsfynydd as a ‘lead and learn’ site located in an area facing significant economic challenges. There are three strands to the NDA’s contribution to preparing the community for the future.
5.2 Socio-economic
5.2.1 The Energy Act 2004 obliges the NDA to consider the socio-economic impacts of its activities on local communities. A supplementary function is to give ‘encouragement and other support to activities that benefit the social or economic life of communities’ living near our sites. The Act gives the NDA the power to make socio-economic grants and loans placing a responsibility on us to maintain and develop a skilled workforce able to progress decommissioning, and also to give support to communities affected by the consequences of site closure.
5.2.2 Our sites are predominantly located in remote areas of the UK such as at Trawsfynydd. The site has historically been a large and significant employer and therefore inextricably linked to the wider social and economic wellbeing of the local area. ‘Anglesey and Meirionnydd’ is one of the NDA’s four prioritised areas for socio economic development, along with West Cumbria, North Sutherland and Caithness, and the Lockerbie-Annan-Gretna corridor in Dumfries and Galloway.
5.2.3 We have been fortunate in having had time and being able to work with local communities to help to mitigate the most adverse consequences of our activities. At a number of sites, such as at Wylfa, substantial employment levels are likely to continue for some time. That said, it should be recognised that the workforce will gradually reduce as the site passes through the decommissioning phases. Trawsfynydd currently employs around 250 people. Over the next decade or so this number will be reduced to a minimal level that enables the continuation of essential services during C&M, in line with regulatory approval.
5.2.4 To enable communities living near our sites to develop dynamic and sustainable economies, we adopt the following priorities:
5.2.5 To fulfil these priorities we have been working with the North Wales communities and have targeted grants towards developing skills and local economic infrastructure, and to encourage diversification into alternative sectors.
5.2.6 Since 2005/6, the NDA has committed more than £7m of socio-economic funding [1]in North West Wales, which has levered £39m of external match funding. Some of the projects that NDA has supported to help prepare communities living near Trawsfynydd and Wylfa for the future include:
5.2.6.1 The Meirionnydd Employment Plan. Led by Gwynedd Council, this programme comprised a suite of initiatives to enhance the outdoor leisure and tourism sector in Snowdonia, such as the Eryri Centre of Excellence.
5.2.6.2 The Anglesey Energy Island Programme. NDA has provided capital and resource funding to support Isle of Anglesey County Council’s vision of placing Anglesey and the wider North West Wales region at the forefront of low carbon energy developments.
5.2.6.3 Initiatives to support rural enterprises in Gwynedd and Anglesey under the EU Rural Development Programme (RDP) and LEADER Programme.
5.2.6.4 The Morlais Marine Demonstration Zone. NDA is helping to finance the preliminary licensing and consent work required to help enable tidal and wave energy development off the Anglesey coast.
5.2.7 The NDA is a Board Member of the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone Advisory Board, which represents one of the seven enterprise zones set up by the Welsh Government and is exploring economic opportunities at two sites in Trawsfynydd and Llanbedr. The NDA is also actively supporting the Anglesey Energy Island Programme and the Magnox Task Force established by the Welsh Business Minister, Edwina Hart AM.
Developing Skills in North Wales
5.3 As part of the socio-economic programme the NDA has targeted specific funding towards ventures designed to improve the skills base of North Wales in preparation for the future that includes:
5.3.1 The construction of the Coleg Menai Energy Skills Centre in Llangefni, which will help to provide locally the skills required to support low carbon energy developments in North West Wales, including Wylfa Newydd.
5.3.2 Supported new construction skills workshops at Grwp Llandrillo Menai’s campus in Dolgellau.
5.3.3 ‘Shaping the Future in North West Wales.’ This four-year initiative, supported by the EU Social Fund, provided bespoke training programmes for employees at Trawsfynydd and Wylfa in order to help prepare them to find alternative high-value employment in the region. The programme has yielded a database of skills and talent, which is currently being managed by the North Wales Economic Ambitions Board.
Developing a supply chain
5.4 The 2004 Act also gives the NDA responsibility for developing the supply chain within its estate. At a wider level, meanwhile, the Government is committed to providing the Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) community with greater access to the numerous procurements awarded across the public sector. To achieve this goal, all Government departments and arms-length bodies, including the NDA, must develop appropriate policies to support SMEs. This requirement also flows down to the SLCs such as Magnox Ltd. The aim is to secure contracts which are affordable, provide value for money and deliver the NDA’s mission. The NDA has worked with the supply chain to understand the issues facing them working within the Estate with the aim to:
- reduce cost of entry and participation;
- provide a stable but dynamic environment;
- improve transparency of processes.
5.5 In pursuit of this, and with the participation of companies from North Wales, the NDA has:
5.5.1 Formed SME steering groups to provide a forum to discuss improving the attractiveness and health of the market that supports the NDA sites, with particular focus on SMEs. There are five groups across the UK including one for Wales which produced a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ Guide for SMEs wanting to enter the NDA Estate Supply Chain;
5.5.2 Run a pilot NDA estate SME mentoring scheme to promote and encourage participation of SMEs in the NDA estate with several North Wales companies participating – both as mentors or mentees, and with a North Wales company providing the training for the scheme;
5.5.3 Launched a Supply Chain Charter for nuclear decommissioning contractors that aims to foster good working relations across the NDA estate, with all parties signing up to principles encouraging mutually beneficial, rewarding relationships;
5.5.4 Improved the visibility of opportunities for the supply chain by jointly organising and sponsoring an annual informal networking event free to delegates and exhibitors and which also recognises success with the NDA Supply Chain Awards Scheme;
5.5.5 Encouraged the use of the NDA Estate Supply Chain networking group for promoting news, contract opportunities and collaboration between suppliers (existing and new) at all levels, SLCs and the NDA.
5.6 To further the development of the supply chain in North Wales Magnox has in the past ran supplier group events in North Wales in partnership with the Welsh Assembly Government. The events attracted hundreds of representatives interested in learning about opportunities for working in the nuclear industry in North Wales.
5.7 Developing a robust supply chain has had the added benefit of providing a strong foundation for nuclear new build and other new energy missions embarked upon in North Wales.
6.1 The NDA’s priority is to decommission the Trawfynydd site in a safe, timely and cost-effective manner. Future planning for the site is made on this basis.
6.2 Additional to the decommissioning plans, the NDA provides encouragement and support to communities in their pursuit of activities and initiatives in preparation for the future without the site. However, the potential of any new ventures at the Trawsynydd site has not been factored into future planning. That said there is nothing in the current decommissioning plans that would prevent the building of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) at Trawsfynydd.
6.3 With regard to the impact decommissioning has upon the local community the Snowdonia Enterprise Zone Advisory Zone Board, the local authority and the wider local community are considering a range of longer term economic opportunities with the potential to make a positive contribution to the Meirionnydd economy. The NDA is engaged with these groups to provide support in helping them to achieve their aims and objectives. Whilst the NDA does not have a view on the efficacy of SMRs, we will continue to help facilitate the development of viable alternative opportunities that have the potential to fill the economic gap left by the decommissioning of Trawsfynydd.
04 March 2016
[1] This includes both direct NDA funding and money committed through the Magnox socio-economic scheme.