Accurate estimates for national Environmental Management remediation work programs are an essential ingredient of ensuring that plans can be adequately funded. They also form the basis of value measurement as the work is executed on an annual or program basis. However, the inherent uncertainties of many of the Environmental Management (EM) and decommissioning tasks, both in terms of the technical challenges faced, options available, end states to be achieved; and the general risks and uncertainties associated with the hazard and its characterisation means that many estimates were always going to have very high levels of uncertainty. In 2002 the United Kingdom Nuclear Liabilities Estimate was quoted as £48Bn when the government restructured the UK civil nuclear industry and set out the basis for forming what was to become the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). By 2005 the NDA had assessed the costs as £56Bn but by 2008 the costs had significantly increased to £73Bn and continue to rise. How does this relate to the more immediate challenges of ‘working off’ the plan and demonstrating Value for Money can be achieved in the near term? In parallel the US Department of Energy Environmental Management Office introduced its ‘Best in Class’ initiative in 2007 — the intention being to tackle underperformance and drive improvements in the baselines and the contractor delivery programs. This paper compares and contrasts UK and US EM program performance issues and covers several interdependent topic areas including: a) Government funding impacts, b) Contractor program estimates, c) Program Controls requirements, and d) Independent assurance requirements. This paper attempts to answer the question “how can governments demonstrate Value for Money in EM”.
Skip Nav Destination
ASME 2011 14th International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management
September 25–29, 2011
Reims, France
Conference Sponsors:
- Nuclear Engineering Division and Environmental Engineering Division
ISBN:
978-0-7918-5498-3
PROCEEDINGS PAPER
Delivering Value for Money: Trust and Verify?
Alastair Laird
Alastair Laird
Project Time & Cost, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Search for other works by this author on:
Alastair Laird
Project Time & Cost, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Paper No:
ICEM2011-59253, pp. 379-387; 9 pages
Published Online:
August 17, 2012
Citation
Laird, A. "Delivering Value for Money: Trust and Verify?." Proceedings of the ASME 2011 14th International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management. ASME 2011 14th International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management, Parts A and B. Reims, France. September 25–29, 2011. pp. 379-387. ASME. https://doi.org/10.1115/ICEM2011-59253
Download citation file:
8
Views
Related Proceedings Papers
Related Articles
A Happy New Year…
ASME J of Nuclear Rad Sci (January,2019)
Lessons Learned From the European Union Referendum to Better Promote Nuclear Energy
ASME J of Nuclear Rad Sci (October,2021)
Special Section: Selected Papers from ICONE-27
ASME J of Nuclear Rad Sci (October,2020)
Related Chapters
Overview of corporate environmental management
Green Supply Chain Management
The Human Factor in Network System Survivability (PSAM-0090)
Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on Probabilistic Safety Assessment & Management (PSAM)
Czech and Slovakian Codes
Companion Guide to the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Volume 3, Third Edition