Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Details
Our Overall Strategy
As a responsible organisation and due to statutory obligation contained in the Energy Act (2004), the NDA takes due regard of the impact of its activities upon those communities around its sites.
Our decommissioning work supports a considerable number of jobs in some remote parts of the UK and we strive to maximise the value of the buildings and the assets we own on behalf of the taxpayer. For example; by reusing land and buildings wherever possible. This funding is intended to help local communities who are or will be impacted by the changing levels of economic activity at our sites. If local communities are particularly reliant upon nuclear sites, we work with local partners to help develop alternative economic opportunities. In the pages below there are a number of examples of such projects. We also fund projects that develop local skills and which help businesses take advantage of the economic opportunities from decommissioning. Funding is allocated following an assessment of local needs and on the basis of a competitive process to projects and organisations that meet local needs.
Our principles
- Local -Our projects need to reflect local priorities. For larger projects this means alignment with the plans of the appropriate local economic development organisations (such as Highlands and Islands Enterprise, LEPs or local authorities). We will only fund local organisations, or national organisations with a local presence.
- Evidence Decisions will be made based on clear evidence of need or opportunity and also evidence that projects can be delivered. We expect projects to be submitted with robust business cases.
- Governance Our budgets are funded by the taxpayer, so we need robust governance systems.
- Outcomes Our focus is to help achieve long-lasting positive social, economic or environmental benefit. Resources will be allocated on the basis of clear expected outcomes that reflect need/opportunity. Actual performance against targets will be robustly monitored and reported upon.
Economic evidence
It is important that our socio-economic decisions are evidence based, therefore, socio economic impact assessments are carried out to support our decision-making process. The reports show us that the impact of our decommissioning work is different at all our sites.
For more information on the economic impact assessments findings, please see links below:
Sellafield Ltd
The economic impact of Sellafield Ltd
The economic contribution of the NDA to the West Cumbria economy, April 2022
Magnox Ltd
Economic Impact Assessment of Magnox Sites, PDF
Economic impact assessment of Magnox sites, May 2022
Dounreay Site Restoration Limited
Socio Economic Impact Assessment, final report to Dounreay Site Rstoration Limited, Jan 2014, PDF
Dounreay Socio-economic Report
Our overall approach
The NDA Local Social and Economic Impact strategy 2020 update, which we consulted on in 2020, details our overall approach.