Jonathan Djanogly, MP for Huntingdon and a member of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), visited Sellafield on Monday 30 October 2023.

Jonathan and other Committee members were being advised on nuclear decommissioning issues by site owners the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) which is a non-departmental public body of the UK government.

NDA’s mission, on behalf of the Government, is to overcome the challenges of nuclear clean-up and decommissioning the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost-effectively. Ensuring care for workers, communities and the environment and leaving 17 nuclear sites ready for their next use.

A top priority for the NDA is the safe handling of material from one of the legacy ponds and silos, the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS). Removing the waste from these silos commenced in 2022 and is one of the most complex decommissioning challenges in the world.

During the visit, Jonathan was fortunate enough to observe MSSS and the Pile 1 reactor, the birthplace of the country’s atomic programme and also where a fire broke out in 1957.

Commenting on recent developments, Jonathan said:

“The visit was informative and I was pleased to see that the NDA are working to reduce risk and “high hazard” at Sellafield. In recent years significant milestones have been met in retrieving hazardous waste from its legacy ponds and silos.

“The NDA has made progress with reducing these since we last reported. However, BEIS, UK Government Investments, the NDA and Sellafield Limited have more work to do to measure, evaluate and communicate progress more effectively.”