A NEW report from the National Audit Office has found that Sellafield nuclear site is 'not yet achieving value for money'.

Ongoing concerns over project management, the pace of delivery and staffing at Sellafield – the UK’s most complex and challenging nuclear site – mean it is not yet achieving value for money, a new National Audit Office (NAO) report says.

The report's key points found that:

  • Value for money not yet being achieved at Sellafield, with concerns over project management and staffing.
  • Management of major projects has begun to improve, but four projects underway when the NAO last reported in 2018 are significantly over budget and behind schedule.
  • Sellafield demonstrated for the first time that it can remove its most hazardous waste, but progress isn’t quick enough.

Sellafield is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), an executive non-departmental body sponsored by the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero.

Improving performance culture at Sellafield is 'key', according to the NAO.

The report said that in 2023, Sellafield paid out £2.1m more in staff bonuses than it should have done – around £200 per person. Its senior management treated one missed target as if it had been met, and omitted another missed target from its assessment of how well the organisation had performed, so the bonus payable was not reduced.

But it added that since 2023, there have been changes in leadership and there are signs – via staff survey results – that the organisation’s culture is improving.

The NAO report also raises concerns over the speed at which Sellafield is removing hazardous material from ageing buildings.

"Compared with 2018, milestones for substantially emptying three of the legacy ponds and silos have been pushed back by between 6 and 13 years," the NAO said, though it added that Sellafield is hoping to significantly accelerate the pace of retrievals.

Separately, four of the major projects the NAO last reported on in 2018 (and which had started construction), are expected to cost £1.15billion more and be delivered 58-129 months later than previously forecast.

Major projects started more recently are currently in line with their business cases, with one notable exception that is vital to the safe and effective running to the site. This involves Sellafield’s sample analysis facilities, which are 70 years old and in extremely poor condition.

The report also mentions recruitment concerns and staffing issues, particularly related to improving cyber security following the site’s prosecution for related breaches/failings earlier this year.

Gareth Davies, head of the NAO said: “The NDA needs to build new facilities to treat and store different types of nuclear waste, while maintaining ageing facilities and associated infrastructure until they can be decommissioned.

“Despite progress achieved since the NAO last reported, I cannot conclude Sellafield is achieving value for money yet, as large projects are being delivered later than planned and at higher cost, alongside slower progress in reducing multiple risks.

“Continued underperformance will mean the cost of decommissioning will increase considerably, and ‘intolerable risks’ will persist for longer.”

NDA Group CEO, David Peattie, said: “The NDA and Sellafield welcome this report, and its recognition of the progress on numerous fronts at Sellafield since the last report in 2018, including benefits achieved through the new NDA group model.

“Sellafield is one of the most complex environmental programmes in the world. We’re proud of our workforce and achievements being made, including the unprecedented retrieval of legacy waste from all four highest hazard facilities.

“But as the NAO rightly points out there is still more to be done. This includes better demonstrating we are delivering value for money and the wider significant societal and economic benefits through jobs, the supply chain, and community investments.

“With the support of our workforce, community, and stakeholders we remain committed to driving forward improved performance and continuing to deliver our nationally important mission safely, securely, and sustainably.”