Mark Leftly: Exposing the high price of nuclear decontamination bids
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Westminster Outlook A quick shout out to Dr David Lowry, the foremost scourge of the UK’s nuclear authorities. His dogged use of the Freedom of Information Act is why we know the extent of the private-sector mismanagement of the £70bn clean-up of the Sellafield plant in Cumbria.
Among his latest treasure trove is a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority briefing to government from December. There is a tiny detail that shows just how much financial risk companies such as the US engineer Bechtel and Britain’s Atkins are taking on these huge nuclear decontamination deals: it costs every consortium £15m to £20m when they bid for these deals. That is a scandalous sum for even big businesses to have to risk on the bid alone.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments