| Thanks to Barbara Thomas Judge,
Chairman UKAEA, Mr Jim Knight MP.I was delighted to be able to accept your
invitation to celebrate UKAEA’s 50th Anniversary. Particularly given its
major contribution over those 50 years in both the UK and internationally.
I have recently succeeded Stephen Timms as you may
know. In July Stephen made a commemorative visit to UKAEA. He reminded you
then how fifty years ago, the world was a very different place.
When Royal Assent for the Atomic Energy Authority
Bill was granted in June 1954, Sir Winston Churchill was Prime Minister,
and our Queen had just been crowned in 1953. And most important of all, to
me at least, I was born!
The nuclear energy industry, championed by UKAEA,
was in its infancy. But, by 1953, construction work was already being
started on Calder Hall the world’s first commercial nuclear power station.
Nuclear power was not alone in being born at that time.
The transistor, commercial airliners and satellites
were about to change and shrink the world. Global and mobile
telecommunications were science fiction.
Our lifestyles, sources and use of energy, technologies and everyday
products have all changed.
Innovation and technology have milestoned this
progress. UKAEA has often been at the heart of the process. It laid the
foundation for a safe and successful industry that has productively
employed thousands of highly skilled professional scientists and
engineers.
The nuclear power industry generates 22 per cent of
the UK’s electricity. We are keeping open the possibility of future
nuclear build and researching nuclear fusion at Culham, but, we need to
exploit the potential of renewables.
We also need to ‘bite the bullet’ and tackle the
legacy of nuclear waste, which is UKAEA’s new mission. UKAEA still plays
an important part in technology and innovation as it cleans up its sites.
Earlier this year UKAEA transferred to English
Partnerships several hundred acres at Winfrith. The Winfrith Technology
Centre is home for 43 companies employing about 1500 people.
At Harwell, another of UKAEA’s five sites, the
International Business Centre is home to 85 largely technology based
companies employing 2,500 highly skilled people.
There is tremendous potential for developing an even
greater science and technology campus at Harwell. Indeed, a key word in
the UKAEA story is adaptability to change. Adaptability is at the heart of
any organisation that can survive over time. Adaptability is not easy.
It requires devotion, dedication, sheer hard work
and the right people.
UKAEA’s people from its Chairman (Barbara) down are
dedicated to tackling UKAEA’s prime concern, the decommissioning of its
sites. Considerable progress is being made by UKAEA in preparation for the
NDA; performance in 2003/04 was the best we have seen.
Furthermore, the latest estimate shows dramatic
accelerated timescales and reduced costs for clean up as a result of
innovative thinking:
Decommissioning Winfrith by 2015 – a 35 year
reduction.
Harwell by 2025 – a 25 year reduction.
Passive safety at Windscale (except for B13) by 2015
– a 45 year reduction.
An interim end state for Dounreay by 2036 – a 27
year reduction.
In total this represents a significant reduction in
the UKAEA’s ‘nuclear liabilities’ from £6.3B to £4.8B, a saving to the
taxpayer and a healthy improvement in productivity.
Even so, it would be a mistake to underestimate the
challenges that lie ahead.To better understand these we have initiated a
Strategy Review for UKAEA. This is looking critically at all of its
business operations.I expect to be considering the findings later this
year.
UKAEA’s adaptability and professionalism should
stand the organisation in good stead. If 50 is the new 40 as I believe it
is, perhaps we can expect even greater achievements from UKAEA in the
future.
Tonight is an opportunity to celebrate the journey
so far and to wish UKAEA every success in its future.
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