The new operators of Sellafield are to be exempt from Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, it has been revealed.
Energy and climate change secretary Ed Miliband has ruled that Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), a US-led consortium that will take control of the site on Monday, will not be subject to the legislation.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) said the decision was taken because NMP is a private company.
OPERATIONS and work practices at Sellafield will be put under the microscope by the site's new owners.
af nuke lab
Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), which took control in November, said it is now ready to "engage and energise" the workforce.
That means high-powered teams of experts from NMP's consortium companies in America, France and the UK will be called in to scrutinise and assess methods being used across six core areas of the site over the next three months, starting in February.
The Cumbria Cabinet's complete reversal of any semblance of democracy is worthy of the most agile circus acrobat. The nuclear acrobatics continue in the news reports justifying the decision to bury high level nuclear waste by saying : "This is the option being taken in the US at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, where highly radioactive fuel will go underground. The Yucca Mountain project involved URS Washington, a key partner in Sellafield's parent body organisation NMP". Sounds wonderfully cosy and reasurring doesn't it? But the truth is somewhat different with lawsuits against URS Washington and deep disposal of high level nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain now off the agenda because of contamination risks to the regions water, soil and air.
WORKING practices at Sellafield are to be put under the microscope.
Experts are being called in from Nuclear Management Partners' consortium companies in the US and France, as well as the UK, to scrutinise and assess methods being used across six core areas of the huge site over the next three months.
It is a fundamental part of a 100-day plan. Changes are expected as NMP bids to get the best out of an annual £1.3 billion contract and the chance to earn a £50 million fee.
Thirteen separate teams split into groups of six to eight people will look closely at the work and how it is being done.
An international consortium is signing a multi-billion pound contract to clean up the Sellafield nuclear plant.
Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) is taking over the shares in Sellafield Ltd formerly held by BNFL.
The £22bn contract, which promises improved performance and efficiency, is expected to last up to 17 years. The deal is being struck on Monday.
In a grand old house on the outskirts of Whitehaven in Cumbria, a small team of international managers are preparing to take on the task of cleaning up the most intricate nuclear complex in the world.
Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) - a consortium representing companies from the US, France and the UK - has been awarded a multi-billion pound contract that could turn into the biggest procurement deal ever signed by the UK government.
Nuclear Management Partners HQ, prior to taking charge of Sellafield
Nuclear Management Partners are taking charge of Sellafield
The task ahead: to sort out the mess left behind after more than half a century of nuclear energy and weapons production at Sellafield.
Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Project, LLC and Unistar Nuclear Operating Services, LLC (Unistar); Notice of Receipt and Availability of Application for a Combined License On September 30, 2008, Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Project, LLC and UniStar Nuclear Operating Services, LLC (UniStar) filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) pursuant to Section 103 of the Atomic Energy Act and Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) Part 52, ``Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Nuclear Power Plants,'' an application for a combined license (COL) for an evolutionary power reactor (US EPR) nuclear power plant adjacent to the existing Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1 and Unit 2, Oswego County, New York. The reactor is to be identified as Nine Mile Point 3 Nuclear Power Plant (NMP3NPP).
AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, and EnergySolutions, the international nuclear services company, have formed a joint venture to bid for the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract at Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL).
The joint venture, which will be called Caithness Solutions Limited, brings together two companies with unrivalled experience in the international nuclear decommissioning market as well as in other key industrial sectors.
AMEC is a member of Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), the consortium that owns the shares in Sellafield Ltd and operates the site on behalf of the NDA. EnergySolutions, is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and holds the contracts to manage and operate the ten Magnox nuclear sites in the UK on behalf of the NDA."