On behalf of 5,000 members at the site, Prospect section chair Peter Clements said:

“This is welcome news. We have already been involved in regular dialogue with NMP during the lengthy competition and transitional period and look forward to building on that relationship.

“The incumbent PBO has had a hard job acting as caretaker for nearly two years, but we hope today’s share transfer means NMP will be able to provide the stability, leadership and direction needed to clean up the site. This is the biggest change in the UK’s civil nuclear industry in the last 50 years.”

Clements and vice chairman Paul Shawcross were part of a Prospect delegation invited to witness the contract signing.

Afterwards Shawcross said: “This has been a long time coming. It brings to an end the uncertainty felt across Sellafield’s sites over the last few years. With the correct NDA funding, NMP could be the steady hand at the tiller for the next 17 years.

“Not only have NMP pledged to reinvest a high percentage of its earnings in West Cumbria, making it attractive for new businesses and generating local employment opportunities, its ‘Reach Back’ programme will allow staff to move between the different companies within the consortium. This will promote the sharing of information to gain a better knowledge of all aspects of decommissioning while enabling individuals to develop their careers.”

Prospect is the UK’s largest union in the nuclear industry representing over 15,000 scientists, engineers and professional staff.

Following today’s transfer of shares Nuclear Management Partners will manage and operate:

• Sellafield, West Cumbria – the reprocessing and decommissioning site
• Risley, near Warrington, Cheshire – which provides specialist technical support
• Capenhurst on the Wirral – which undertakes decommissioning work.