Energy Act 2004

Energy Act 2004

2004 CHAPTER 20

Commentary on Sections

Chapter 1: Nuclear Decommissioning

Section 4: Additional responsibilities under designating directions

53. Section 4 enables the Secretary of State to give the NDA certain additional responsibilities when, or after, making a designation under section 3.

54. Subsection (1) is aimed at a situation in which the NDA is responsible for operating an installation or facility on a site which it does not have responsibility for cleaning‑up and which it needs to be able to manage.

55. When the NDA has responsibility in relation to a principal nuclear site, subsection (2) enables the NDA to be given responsibility for operating or managing research facilities, general facilities on the site (e.g. car parks, etc), land which is occupied together with the site by a person with control (e.g. land owned by BNFL in the vicinity of its sites) and facilities on such land (e.g. the visitor centre at Sellafield, offices, research laboratories, etc). There are some research facilities on principal nuclear sites, for example the BNFL Technology Centre at Sellafield.

56. Subsection (3) limits the nature of these additional responsibilities the NDA can be given to ones that will assist it in carrying out functions it already has or ones which are incidental to that purpose.

57. Where the NDA is given responsibility under section 3(1) or 4(2)(a), (b) or (d) for the operation of an installation or facility, it will by implication have power to do anything it needs to do in order to operate the installation or facility concerned, including building or replacing anything on which the operation depends. Because the designation under section 3(1)(e) is in respect of particular matter or waste, the NDA may need to be able to build and operate an installation or facility to be able to deal with it, and subsection (4) contains the necessary power.