Commentary on Sections Chapter 1: Nuclear Decommissioning Section 22: Expenditure and receipts of NDA
106.Section 22 sets out how the NDA is to be put in funds and arrangements for handling any income it generates.
107.Subsection (2) enables the Secretary of State to fit the payment of grants to the requirements of the NDA so that it has the funds it needs as and when required.
108.Subsection (3) requires all sums received by the NDA other than by grant from the Secretary of State to be paid to the Secretary of State who, under subsection (4), is required to pay them into the Consolidated Fund. Section 31 provides the mechanism by which these sums are credited to contribute to future decommissioning and clean up costs. This covers income from operating nuclear installations such as THORP, SMP and Magnox, and charges to third parties, whether for decommissioning work carried out on their behalf or for the use of other facilities or land which are the responsibility of the NDA.
109.Subsection (5) requires the Secretary of State to have regard, in particular, to the extent to which he considers that the NDA should exercise its power to make grants or loans to benefit the social or economic life of communities or that produce other environmental benefits in order to mitigate the effects of the cessation of the operation of a designated installation.
110.While it will be important that the NDA operates any income generating facilities in the most beneficial way, this must not distract the NDA from its principal task of decommissioning and clean up. In the interest of transparency therefore any income the NDA generates itself will be clearly separated from the grant it receives from Government. It follows that the resources available to the NDA to carry out its functions will derive principally from grants provided by the Secretary of State in line with its agreed strategy and annual plans.