WIREDGOV

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) group yesterday published its 2023 to 2024 socio-economic report detailing a record investment in projects across the UK.

Over the last five years, the NDA group has invested £60 million in projects that enable permanent and sustainable change in its site communities, leveraging many millions more from partners.

The NDA is tasked with decommissioning the UK’s earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and sustainably. Its mission is unique in that it’s required to have regard for the impact of its activities on communities living near its sites.

NDA Director of Socio-Economics, Jamie Reed, said:

“We believe that decommissioning activities should benefit local communities and that we must provide a positive legacy once our work is completed.

“We work in partnership with local stakeholders to better understand the economic priorities I their area and how we can deliver maximum value.

“We are immensely proud of our work with local communities to date and the vast variety of projects we’ve supported, and are very ambitious to make further progress.”

In 2023 to 2024, the NDA group invested over £14 million of direct socio-economic funding. The report details how and where this money has been invested, including case studies reflecting how the NDA group works with communities, stakeholders and colleagues to use its funding to maximum effect. 

These include:

• Growing Well - a charity in West Cumbria supporting the recovery of adults suffering from mental ill health through engagement in horticultural activities. NDA is providing £195,000 in grant funding to support the extension of the project into Egremont - supporting people close to its sites whilst also providing a source of locally grown fruit and vegetable produce.
• SOFEA – enabling disadvantaged young people in South Oxfordshire to engage with learning, skills development and work, and providing a number of social purpose projects, including community larders for those experiencing food poverty. A new training kitchen has been installed thanks to a £608,000 grant co-funded between Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) and NDA.
• Willie Mackie Skills Hub – the primary location in North Ayrshire for college students, primary and secondary school pupils, employers and their workforces, and residents to access high quality STEM vocational skills training. It received £499,000 in funding from the NDA and NRS, and in its first year 219 students enrolled in construction technology, trades and renewables courses.

The report follows the publication of the NDA group’s new Social Impact and Communities Strategy in April 2024 which set out how it works to deliver the maximum positive social impact based upon the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and independently produced economic impact assessments.

The Social Impact and Communities Strategy aims to deliver against the following six strategic themes:

• Resilient economies – enabling and supporting the conditions for local economic output, improved productivity, and growth.
• Thriving communities – enabling and supporting the conditions for social cohesion, supporting disadvantaged groups and other social benefits.
• Sustainable incomes – improving aspirations and access to work through a programme of high impact education, skills, personal development and employability support activities.
• Sustainable growth – reflecting the importance of the climate agenda and working to achieve economic, social and competitive advantage for nuclear communities by integrating sustainable growth into socio economic interventions.
• Social value chains – working closely with suppliers to create social impacts with the supply chain.
• Collective impact – leveraging social impact and investment by working with stakeholders, partners and communities to practice an integrated approach and culture of delivery.

You can read the full report here NDA socio-economic report 2023 to 2024.