Last updated 19:29, Thursday, 27 November 2008

HISTORY was made on Monday as the Government handed control of Sellafield to the private sector for the first time in its 50 years of existence.

Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), a US-led consortium, has taken over the running of the site after a handover of shares.

Copeland MP Jamie Reed has called it the most important development in the history of West Cumbria.

NMP is a collaboration between US nuclear giant URS Corporation, French outfit Areva and British construction services group Amec.

The group beat off competition from three rivals to land the contract, worth more than the London 2012 Olympics.

Executives will now be tasked with overseeing the dismantling of the site, which could take 100 years to complete.

One challenge that has been removed is the threat of a strike. Unions have now accepted a revised pay offer.

NMP has pledged to become part of the West Cumbrian community.

The consortium will offer a £50,000-a-year support package for the area’s charities over the next five years, from April. Sellafield Ltd’s 10,000 workers will also received a loyalty bonus of £1,500 each as a parting gift of BNFL.

Staff have been told their jobs are safe now, but there will be an inevitable reduction in numbers as its winding down gathers pace.

NMP will become Sellafield’s parent body organisation (PBO) and will be handed £1.3bn a year to run it.

It has been awarded a five-year contract, with another 12 years on offer subject to performance.

NMP’s contract covers the decommissioning of the former nuclear power stations at Calder Hall and Windscale on the Sellafield site plus the management of the Thorp and Mox reprocessing plants.

The deal also covers the Capenhurst nuclear facility in Cheshire and an engineering design centre at Risley, near Warrington.

The NDA will continue to own the land at the sites.