United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (Hansard, 24 March 1987)

§ Mr. Peter Walker

I have settled objectives with the UKAEA chairman, Mr. John Collier, on the following terms.

General Now that the authority has become a trading fund following the enactment of the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986, you should ensure that it operates on a fully commercial basis while discharging its continuing responsibilities to me and to Parliament. The authority's principal business remains to carry out research and development on the application of nuclear energy for civil purposes in the United Kingdom. The authority will also undertake other functions agreed with the Government consistent with the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1954, the Science and Technology Act 1965, the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1986, and any other relevant legislation; one such function will he to distribute information on nuclear power. Within these limits I expect you to seek out new customers in both the nuclear and non-nuclear fields so as to exploit the authority's assets and expertise to the full. You should ensure the authority's organisation is appropriate for achieving these tasks. Subject to the acknowledged need for the authority to carry out a modest programme of longer-term underlying research, defined customer-contractor relationships should apply as far as possible to all the authority's work, including that undertaken for the Department of Energy. All work for customers whether nuclear or non-nuclear should be undertaken only on the basis of an adequate return. The authority's charges to customers may include a contribution towards its underlying research programme. You should continue to take all reasonable steps to foster the exploitation by United Kingdom industry of technology developed by the authority, including joint ventures where possible.

Nuclear Work for the Department of Energy To meet the Department's requirements for R and D in the nuclear field you will he asked, each year, to put forward, for agreement with the Department, a programme letter for each area of its declared interest. These should include specific objectives and programmes of work, resources required, timescales and priorities. These programme letters will provide the basis for the Department's funding. You should ensure that the authoity has in place mechanisms for verifying the quality of the work carried out under the programme letters, and for maximising the efficiency with which that work is executed. You should also ensure that the authority reviews regularly the scope of the work being undertaken or proposed to meet programme letter objectives, with a view to ensuring that the work programmes are the most economical way of meeting those objectives. You should on behalf of the authority, and within the above framework, continue to provide me with advice and information on matters connected with nuclear energy, in the United Kingdom and abroad, on the authority's work, and on any other areas of authority expertise. I shall in particular continue to place the highest value upon the authority's independent expertise in questions connected with nuclear safety.

Safety You should ensure that the authority continues to have arrangements which secure the highest standards of safety at all times both in its day-to-day activities and in the management of radioactive waste. You should continue to be guided by the Secretary of State's direction of 1 April 1960, the sense of which (allowing for subsequent changes in 98W responsibilities) is that the authority should have regard as far as practicable to any current safety requirements ordinarily imposed by the NII on licensed operators.

Financial I expect you to use your best endeavours to ensure that the authority lives within its EFL as from time to time agreed. I expect you to use your best endeavours to ensure that the financial target, as set by me from time to time after discussion with the authority is achieved. (The agreed target for the three financial years 1 April 1986 to 31 March 1989 is a return, averaged across the period, 5 per cent. a year in the form of a current cost operating surplus expressed as a percentage of average current cost capital employed). I also expect to require you to surrender distributions of agreed sums from time to time to the Consolidated Fund. You should provide the Department annually with a medium-term corporate plan covering the PES period and taking account as appropriate of the likely development of each of the main business areas over the next 10 years. The plan should include a capital investment memorandum setting out the authority's capital expenditure proposals. The overall plan should be formulated within the framework of longer-term organisational aims and objectives as determined by strategic reviews carried out by the authority and as indicated in this letter.

Efficiency You should ensure that the authority attaches particular importance to the control of costs, increasing efficiency and the economical use of resources including private sector resources where appropriate. You should continue to investigate in liaison with the Department the development of suitable performance aims complementary to the financial target.