On behalf of 11,000 workers in the nuclear industry, Prospect National Secretary Mike Graham said: "This review heralds the biggest change in managing the nuclear legacy and for the first time gives a clear strategy and timescales for decommissioning the UK’s civil nuclear sites. But while the union welcomes the strategy, we have major concerns over some areas of the NDA proposals."

In particular Prospect is seeking assurances over:

• the future of the Sellafield Thorp plant, which has been left in the balance. Prospect will be lobbying the Government to put in place a clear policy on the long-term future of Thorp, enabling it to secure new commercial contracts and provide an important income stream.

• the speed with which private companies are to become involved in the process. Prospect fears that putting management of decommissioning at half of the 20 sites out to competitive tender by end of 2008 could impact on safety.

• fears that the skills agenda required to ensure that a workforce with the necessary expertise may not be met. Prospect is determined to work with the NDA and other agencies to achieve this, but calls upon the NDA to also focus on delivering skills in the South East and South West on a par with resources allocated for Cumbria.

Graham said: "While we welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate, real fears remain among our members over the 2008 deadline for submitting half the sites for competitive tender. The union’s significant reservations over the impact competition could have on safety have been echoed by the Nuclear Safety Advisory Committee and the Health and Safety Commission. By sticking to the timetable to accelerate the decommissioning process in the absence of any logical reason for the arbitrary deadline the NDA must realise it has only succeeded in heightening those fears."

However, he added, Prospect acknowledged that the proposed pre-qualification criteria for the competition process should help raise standards and will focus on good health and safety, environment and employment practice as well as technical and financial strengths. The union is also backing the NDA’s call for a long-term solution on Nuclear Intermediate Waste management and is calling on Government to make an early decision.