A parliamentary report published Tuesday took the management of the UK's Sellafield site to task for rising costs and missed milestones, recommending that its cleanup contractor be dismissed if performance does not improve.
Sellafield is the country's most complex nuclear decommissioning project, home to the Windscale Piles, commercial reactors, Cold-War-era weapons facilities and storage of nuclear waste and plutonium. In October, the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority awarded a five-year management contract extension to Nuclear Management Partners, a consortium of URS Corp., Amec and Areva. The report by the Public Accounts Committee called that decision "highly questionable," adding, "NMP has not provided the leadership and strong contract management skills that are critical for the success of the major projects at Sellafield and the running of such a large and complicated site."
The report highlighted yearly cost increases and significant project delays during the company's first five years working at the site for an estimated $378 million. The committee urged the NDA to cancel the contract extension if things don't change. It also questioned the value of the "parent body" arrangement among the entities responsible for the site, indicating the NDA should be prepared to create an alternative arrangement if the contract is cancelled.
In a prepared response, NMP Chairman Tom Zarges said, “The challenges at Sellafield are unprecedented, with complexities exceeding any other operational or decommissioning nuclear site in the world, therefore demanding extraordinary technology and skills. The first term of our contract has been characterized by many successes but also a number of disappointments and areas for improvement. Our job now is to build on our experience of the last five years to safely and reliably deliver our customer’s mission, while further accelerating the pace of change and providing value for money to the NDA, government and the UK tax payer.”