11 April 2008
Anti-nuclear campaigners have seized on a parliamentary report that highlights the parlous state of funding for nuclear decommissioning to attack the government's plans for nuclear expansion.
The report by the Commons business, enterprise and regulatory reform select committee said more taxpayers' money was likely to be needed to fund the National Decommissioning Authority. It said the £73bn nuclear clean-up was financially unsustainable and in urgent need of reform.
The MPs further warned that decommissioning on some sites was being hampered by changes to funding – a mixture of grant and commercial income.
Greenpeace senior nuclear campaigner Ben Ayliffe said the NDA's finances were in a 'terrible state'.
'Costs for nuclear waste are spiralling out of control and it is the taxpayer who has to foot the bill. The agency is now mired in a financial black hole,' Ayliffe said.
Earlier this year, the National Audit Office also warned that the funding changes were holding up decommissioning work.
The committee began its investigation into NDA funding after the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform asked in February for an extra £400m to fund the authority in the financial year ending in March.
Chair Peter Luff said: 'We believe nuclear decommissioning is too important to be left to the mercy of changing priorities in the Treasury and uncertain commercial income and we urge the government to begin work to resolve this issue urgently.'
PFapr2008
