Prospect backs decommissioning competition

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Prospect backs decommissioning competition

Prospect has welcomed the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's announcement of the competition process for the remaining UK nuclear legacy sites, but warned that economies of scale must not result in compulsory job losses.

The NDA confirmed that competition for the Dounreay site will start in the summer of 2009 and that all of the Magnox sites (North and South) will be joined with the UKAEA Research Sites at Harwell and Winfrith for a single competition beginning in 2011.

National Secretary David Luxton said: “Dounreay is well placed for the long-awaited competition process to commence. The Dounreay workforce have responded positively to the challenge of external competition despite ongoing uncertainties about the level of NDA funding.

“The biggest challenge they face now is securing sufficient government and private investment in new technologies and infrastructure to replace the high quality jobs in Thurso and surrounding areas.

"The competition process will at least ensure that the remaining decommissioning can be completed to the highest standards and with secured stable funding.”

Commenting on the Magnox competition package, Prospect National Secretary, Mike Graham, said:

“We welcome the delayed timetable. This will allow the competition to get its act together in order to get a realistic bid for the Parent Body Organisation that will be responsible for running decommissioning for the three site licence companies (Magnox North, Magnox South, and UKAEA). The larger competition bundle will also make it more attractive to the market.

“But Prospect does have concerns about the savings that can be achieved by economies of scale, and we will insist on no compulsory job losses. We also need to ensure that the NDA provides secure and stable funding for all the Magnox and UKAEA Research Sites (Harwell and Winfrith).

"These sites were particularly hard hit earlier this year with 100 redundancies arising from a sharp reduction in NDA funding, which directly impacted on the decommissioning process.”

The union has pledged to work closely with the current owners of the three site licence companies to ensure a smooth transition to the competition phase, due to commence in 2011.

The union represents 15,000 engineers and scientists in the nuclear industry.