Nuclear Management Partners
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This article is part of the Nuclear Spin project of Spinwatch. |
Contents
Background
Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) manages the Sellafield nuclear complex, which is considered 'the UK's biggest and most toxic nuclear site'.[1] It is an alliance formed by AMEC, a British construction firm in the nuclear industry, and French nuclear clean-up specialists Areva and the URS Corporation (which took over Washington Group International).[2]
In 2013 Sellafield's owner, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), expressed disappointment at NMP's running of the site and in August 2013 was reportedly deciding whether to renew NMP's contract, to re-tender it, or to take over the management itself. A decision is expected in September 2013. [1]
Ownership and payments
Sellafield is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), which pays a company called Sellafield Ltd to manage the site. In November 2008, NMP was appointed as Sellafield Ltd's 'parent body organisation' by the NDA, in a contract that can last for up to 17 years.[3]
Financial and staffing arrangements between the three organisations are complex.
The NDA reimburses all of Sellafield Ltd's "allowable costs" for managing and operating the site, which in 2011-12 totalled £1.6 billion. In turn, Sellafield Ltd passes fees to NMP as dividends.[3]
NMP supplies executives to Sellafield Ltd, which are paid for by the NDA. This cost £32m between November 2008 and March 2012. In 2011-12, Sellafield Ltd had 16 executives from the parent body. [3]
NMP also seconds specialists to Sellafield Ltd, a practice it calls 'reachback'. The NDA pays the cost of this, plus a additional 10 per cent contribution to the parents companies' overheads. This cost £17m in 2011-12 for 63 full-time secondees, against a forecast of £12m. In November 2012, a National Audit Office (NAO) report about Sellafield noted: "In February 2012, the Authority identified a lack of evidence to support using reachback resources."[3]
In 2011-12 Sellafield Ltd also paid the companies that make up NMP £54.4 million as subcontractors. The NAO said that subcontracting arrangements were to be reviewed.[3]
The NDA estimates that Sellafield will be cleaned up by 2120.[3]
Poor management, major delays and rising costs in 2011-2012
The NAO report described the performance of some major projects as "poor" and raised questions over the efficacy of Nuclear Management Partners' approach.[3]
It highlighted significant delays and rising costs. "Between May 2011 and March 2012, 12 of the Authority's 14 major projects delivered less than planned. Sellafield Ltd extended estimated completion dates for seven and increased the total cost estimate by £0.9 billion," it said, also blaming "poor project design and delivery by Sellafield Ltd and weaknesses in the Authority's oversight."[3]
The report concluded that "to date the performance of some of the major projects at Sellafield has been poor" and said "it is too early to judge whether the appointment of Nuclear Management Partners Limited as the parent body of Sellafield is delivering value for money".[3]
In August 2013 The Telegraph newspaper reported that the NDA was 'drawing up plans for how it could be run if management was taken back in to state hands'.[1]
'Significant risks to people and the environment'
The NAO described Sellafield as "the UK’s largest and most hazardous nuclear site", holding "95 per cent of the UK's nuclear waste by volume" and and said some facilities "pose significant risks to people and the environment".[3]
It said that "the exact nature of some of the materials has not been fully characterised as access to some locations...is not yet feasible."[3]
It noted that NMP's plan for the clean up of Sellafield "did not meet the legally binding timetables set by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate for hazard reduction". It says that the Office for Nuclear Regulation, which replaced the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, "has chosen not to prosecute Sellafield for non-compliance. Instead it is working with Sellafield Ltd to ensure that all necessary steps are taken to minimise hazard levels as soon as reasonably practicable."[3]
Sellafield can't 'respond to nuclear emergencies effectively'
A damning report by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in December 2011 revealed that staff at Sellafield did "not have the level of capability required to respond to nuclear emergencies effectively".
The HSE said errors by senior fire officers in a preparedness exercise "could have led to delays in responding to the nuclear emergency and a prolonged release of radioactive material off-site".
Two HSE fire specialists watched an exercise in December 2011 which tested the Sellafield fire and rescue service's ability to search for two people after a fictional accident that led to the spillage of radioactive liquid and an aerial release of radioactivity. The inspectors found evidence of "significant deficiencies around availability of resources, frequency and quality of training, competency and operational preparedness".
The HSE issued an improvement notice on Sellafield, which was 'closed out' in February 2012, meaning sufficient improvements had been made to satisfy inspectors.[4]
PR Award
In June 2012 Sellafield Ltd, the NMP and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's 'Sellafield Plan' publication won the UK’s 'most prestigious' PR and comms awards, the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) 2012 Excellence award for external Publication of the Year. According to NMP's press release, the Sellafield Plan 'brings to life the work programmes on the Sellafield site in a way that is easy to use, update and understand. It was recognised as a real first for the communications in the industry'. [5]
People
- Richard Caborn - former Labour minister became a non-executive director in 2007, remains a director as of August 2012
- George Beveridge - Deputy Managing Director - Transformation/Support
- Jim French - Executive Director - Decommissioning
- Rory O'Neill - Executive Director - Stakeholder Relations - previously worked in the Department of Trade and Industry, with [[BNFL] as Parliamentary Affairs Manager in the early 2000s, as lead lobbyist for the nuclear industry through the passage of the 2004 Energy Act/Bill (which created the NDA), to strategic adviser to Fluor, Westinghouse and most recently GE/Hitachi
- Claire James - Government Relations Officer[6]
- Louise Tyson - Stakeholder Relations Officer at Sellafield Ltd. She is also the new lady mayoress of Copeland. Louise is the daughter in law of Copeland's new mayor, Peter Tyson, who was sworn in after 20 years of being involved in local politics in May 2012. [7]
- John Reynolds - Head of Media Relations
- Karl Connor - Press Officer
Contact, Resources and Notes
Resources
- Richard Cookson and Terry Macalistair, Nuclear safety watchdog criticises Sellafield’s emergency readiness, The Guardian/Spinwatch, 26/27 December 2012
- Mark Leftly, Sellafield failed by private clean-up firms: Series of expensive mistakes has led to review at nuclear plant, The Independent, 28 July 2013
Contact
- Website:http://www.sellafieldsites.com/
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Amec defends Sellafield nuclear clean-up record as £22bn contract hangs in balance,The Telegraph, 8:29PM BST 11 August 2013, acc 13 Aug 2013
- ↑ Tim Webb, Caborn lands nuclear job with Amec, The Observer, Sunday 11 November 2007
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 National Audit Office, Managing risk reduction at Sellafield, November 2012
- ↑ Terry Macalister and Richard Cookson, 'Nuclear safety watchdog criticises Sellafield's emergency readiness' http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/dec/26/sellafield-emergency-readiness-nuclear-watchdog], The Guardian, 26 December 2012
- ↑ National accolade for Sellafield Plan, NMP website, 20th June 2012
- ↑ The Sellafield Ltd Executive team, Sellafield Ltd website, undated, acc 21 June 2012
- ↑ She’s a lady, Sellafield Ltd website, 31 May 2012, acc 21 June 2012
