The Big Clean-Up
Links with the Royal Academy of Engineering feed valuable
practical information into the NDA’s task of decommissioning the
UK’s civil nuclear sites.
The Nuclear Decommissioning
Professor Hyatt’s work has
Authority (NDA) and the Royal
been fundamental to increased
Academy of Engineering are jointly
understanding and the
supporting Professor Neil Hyatt’s
development of new techniques
Research Chair at the University
in the area of radioactive waste
of Sheffield. Dr. Darrell Morris,
management. His expertise was
Research Manager at the NDA,
utilized extensively in the
said, “As a strategic organization,
aftermath of the Japanese
a collaboration of this kind is very
earthquake and tsunami which
important to us and we have found
affected the reactors at
the outcomes to be extremely
Fukushima”.
valuable.
Background of the NDA and
Fellows of the Royal Academy of
establishment of a Research
Engineering who are involved
Chair with the Royal Academy of
in the nuclear industry have
Engineering.
also taken a personal interest in
Professor Hyatt’s work and that
The Nuclear Decommissioning
has been a big benefit. We are now
Authority was set up by the 2004
considering whether to extend this
Energy Act to oversee the process
partnership with other institutions.”
of decommissioning and cleaning
up the UK sites that have been
Dr. Dame Susan Ion DBE FREng,
who is the Academy’s mentor to
Professor Hyatt said, “It is vital that
confidence is built in our ability
to provide robust engineering
solutions to the problem of nuclear
waste disposal if we are to progress
the desired new nuclear build
ambitions the UK so desperately
needs.
used for generating civil nuclear
energy.
Reporting to the Department of
Energy and Climate Change, it
is funded by a combination of
government funding and income
from its commercial operations
(e.g. electricity generation from
Wylfa Power Station). The NDA
is responsible for developing
the estate-wide strategy while
decommissioning activities are
delivered by the Site Licence
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PECM Issue 21
Companies (SLCs) such as Sellafield
Ltd.
Research and development (R&D)
is mostly carried out by the SLCs
and their supply chains, who
develop and deploy technologies
that are specific to their particular
sites. The NDA has overall
responsibility for the mission,
and has to ensure the work is
underpinned by sufficient and
appropriate R&D.
In practice, this means that the
NDA takes a technical oversight
role on the site-specific R&D, while
also looking out for any areas of
overlap, duplication, or potential
to be applied elsewhere on the
estate.
In addition to the site-focused
R&D, the NDA also funds R&D
directly through its Direct Research
Portfolio (DRP) and collaborations
with other organisations, such as
the Technology Strategy Board.
The DRP focuses on supporting the
development of the NDA’s strategy,
delivering multi-site innovation
and maintaining key technical
skills.
This is carried out through R&D
projects commissioned through
universities and research organisations
such as the National Nuclear
Laboratory.