NDA group mission continues to expand

Today marks a further expansion of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group’s nationally important mission as Hinkley Point B nuclear power station in Somerset transferred from EDF to the NDA for decommissioning.

The site will be managed by NDA subsidiary Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS), which is also decommissioning the neighbouring Hinkley Point A site. 

This marks an historic new chapter for the site, which was the first British-designed Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor to export electricity to the national grid back in 1976. When it finished generating some 46 years later, in 2022, it had produced enough zero-carbon electricity to power every home in the South West of England for 33 years. 

Hinkley Point B will continue to provide well-paid skilled jobs within the local community with around 250 people working on site transferring from EDF to NRS bringing their knowledge and experience to deliver the safe, secure decommissioning of the site.

NDA Group CEO, David Peattie, said: “As our mission continues to expand, we’re proud to draw on decades of expertise, applying proven skills, innovation and experience to safely decommission the AGR fleet. 

“As we warmly welcome our new colleagues to the NDA group it’s a reminder that decommissioning underpins the nuclear energy sector. 

“We are safely cleaning up sites and managing waste, preparing land for alternative uses, as well as sustaining national capability, supporting local communities, and giving confidence that the UK will manage its nuclear legacy responsibly.”

Energy Minister Michael Shanks said: "Today’s transfer marks an important new chapter for Hinkley Point B, which has played a key role in reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and will continue to support around 250 skilled jobs as it enters safe decommissioning. 

"As we deliver the biggest expansion of nuclear power in a generation, we are backing both the skilled jobs needed to decommission our historic sites safely and the 42,000 jobs helping build the next generation of clean, homegrown nuclear power.”

Hinkley Point has long been a central part of the UK's nuclear energy industry. The A site began generating electricity in 1965 and was joined by the B station in 1976. Today work is ongoing, on land adjacent to these two stations, to build Hinkley Point C. 

Between 1976-2024 Hinkley Point B generated more than £15bn worth of economic value to the UK. Decommissioning continues to generate significant economic benefits, economic analysis shows that in 2024/25 Hinkley Point A was estimated to contribute around £31 million in economic value for the local authority, rising to £61 million for the wider UK.

Rob Fletcher, NRS CEO, said: “We’re proud to welcome our new colleagues from EDF into the NDA group. We already have deep local experience at Hinkley through our work at Hinkley Point A, where strong relationships have been built and significant progress has been made in restoration, innovation and preparing facilities for their next chapter. 

“As we welcome Hinkley Point B and our new colleagues, we look forward to working together across both sites to share experience, strengthen local capability and deliver safe, secure decommissioning for the benefit of the community and the wider UK nuclear mission.”

John Munro, Managing Director of EDF Nuclear Operations, said: “Hinkley Point B was the first nuclear station of its type to begin generating in 1976 – all those that followed, and indeed this industry, have learned a huge amount from all it has accomplished.

“It has been a trailblazer and now it, and the dedicated teams who have made it the national asset it is, have a new task at hand – one I am sure they will deliver to the highest standard and with the ceaseless professionalism we have all benefitted from over the last decades.”

This milestone is the culmination of five years of partnership and collaboration to reach this point with government, the NDA group, EDF, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Environment Agency and Nuclear Liabilities Fund working together to prepare the site for transfer.

Defueling the reactor to prepare for decommissioning was completed on time and on budget, and over the three years more than 4,900 elements of spent fuel were removed and packaged into specially engineered, transportable fuel flasks by NDA subsidiary Nuclear Transport Solutions and taken to Sellafield, the NDA group’s largest site, for safe storage. 

Hinkley Point B is the second AGR site to transfer to the NDA for decommissioning following Hunterston B earlier this year in April. Other sites that are also planned to transfer are Dungeness B before the end of the decade, and Hartlepool, Heysham 1, Heysham 2 and Torness, as they complete their generating life.

Melissa Hope, Chief Executive of the Nuclear Liabilities Fund, said: "The transfer of Hinkley Point B marks another significant milestone in the UK's nuclear programme and demonstrates what can be achieved through effective partnership working across government, EDF, the NDA group and the wider regulatory community. NLF’s ring-fenced funding will support the ongoing decommissioning of the station, helping to sustain the skilled jobs, specialist expertise and local supply chains needed to deliver this nationally important mission. 

“We look forward to continuing to work closely with NRS as decommissioning progresses, providing confidence that funding will be available when needed and empowering those delivering the work to drive innovation and efficiency.”
 

Notes to Editors

About the NDA group

We’re responsible for keeping the UK’s former nuclear sites and facilities, once at the heart of supporting national defence and generating nuclear power for electricity, safe and secure as we decommission them and overcome the challenges of managing nuclear waste. It’s one of the most important environmental programmes in the world, protecting people and the planet. 

We work hard on behalf of the UK, using innovation and technology to overcome the challenges of identifying and removing nuclear waste from ageing facilities, so we can store it safely and permanently dispose of it. The work is complex and challenging. Dealing with all the waste, dismantling hundreds of buildings and facilities, and building a geological disposal facility (GDF), to dispose of the most hazardous radioactive waste, will take decades. However, by investing today in the challenges left over from the UK’s proud nuclear history, we can remove the burden for future generations and continue to deliver social and environmental benefits through our jobs, knowledge, skills, technology and social investment. 

About Nuclear Restoration Services 

Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority responsible for safely decommissioning 14 nuclear sites across the UK.  

These include:

• The largest environmental clean-up and demolition project in Scotland at the former centre of fast reactor research and development, Dounreay
• Eleven first and second-generation nuclear sites at Berkeley, Bradwell, Chapelcross, Dungeness A, Hinkley Point A, Hunterston A, Hunterston B, Oldbury, Sizewell A, Trawsfynydd and Wylfa
• Two reactor research sites at Harwell and Winfrith

NRS also operates a hydro-electric power station at Maentwrog.

Hunterston B joined NRS on 1 April 2026 as the first advanced gas-cooled reactor site to be decommissioned, followed by Hinkley Point B on the 1 October 2026. Dungeness B, Torness, Heysham 1 & 2, and Hartlepool will join NRS as they are defueled over the next decade.

About NLF

The Nuclear Liabilities Fund (NLF) is an independent ring-fenced fund, established in 1996 to help ensure that funding is available to meet the costs of decommissioning seven AGR nuclear power stations and Sizewell B.

Nuclear liabilities extend far beyond a single generation and NLF's role is to safeguard and invest the Fund's assets to generate returns over the long term, helping to ensure that sufficient funding is available to meet decommissioning costs as they arise. Given the timescales involved, a significant proportion of these costs are not expected to arise for many decades.

The Fund currently has approximately £21 billion of assets under management. Around £16 billion is held with government through the National Loans Fund, providing liquidity and funding certainty for near-term decommissioning costs. The remaining approximately £5 billion is invested through the Mixed Assets Portfolio, a diversified portfolio of liquid and illiquid investments designed to generate long-term returns. A significant proportion of the portfolio is currently invested in UK assets.

The Fund helps ensure that decommissioning costs are planned for over the long term and do not fall unexpectedly on taxpayers. The government has provided guarantees that decommissioning liabilities will continue to be met if the Fund's assets prove insufficient.