Key nuclear roles announced in the local industry

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) announced that Lawrie Haynes CBE has been appointed as interim chair of Sellafield Ltd and will start in the role this month. He succeeds Tony Meggs CBE who has led the board since February 2021.

Lawrie will retain his current role as chair of NDA subsidiary Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS).

NDA chief executive officer, David Peattie, said: “I am pleased that Lawrie has agreed to take on this role on an interim basis alongside chairing the NRS board. His experience will be hugely valuable in supporting the Sellafield board and executive to continue to deliver their nationally important mission. I also want to offer my thanks to Tony for his contribution to Sellafield and his leadership over his term.”

Lawrie says through many years within the nuclear industry he understands the importance of decommissioning sites such as Sellafield Ltd safely and feels privileged to take over the role on an interim period.

He said: “It’s a privilege to take on this role. I have been part of the NDA group since 2019 and know first-hand how vitally important our mission to decommissioning the UK’s legacy nuclear sites is.

“Sellafield plays a pivotal role in the nuclear sector and I look forward to supporting the organisation to continue delivering, both nationally and for the local community.”

He has extensive experience in senior executive and non-executive roles across a range of major private sector companies and high-profile public sector organisations. His previous jobs include president of Rolls-Royce’s Land and Sea Division, chair of NRS and chief executive of British Nuclear Group. He was the first CEO of the Highways Agency (now National Highways) and was a non-executive director at Network Rail.

Recruitment for a permanent appointment as chair of Sellafield Ltd is already under way.

The NDA is charged on behalf of government with the mission to safely, securely and sustainably decommission the UK’s oldest nuclear sites, leaving them ready for their next use. Sellafield Ltd is one of the largest nuclear decommissioning and remediation programmes in Europe, delivered with care for people, communities and the environment.

Elsewhere within the NDA the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero announced that Peter Hill CBE has been appointed as Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) chair. His term begins on June, 1 2024.

He succeeds Chris Train OBE who has been interim chair since September 2023. Chris will continue in his role as a non-executive director on the NDA board. Minister for nuclear and renewables, Andrew Bowie, said: “Nuclear decommissioning and waste management are a vital part of the lifecycle of nuclear power generation and will be critical for our ambition to quadruple our nuclear capacity to 24GW by 2050.

“Peter Hill brings a wealth of experience to the role, and I am confident he will enable the organisation to safely deliver its nationally important mission.”

Peter has wide experience in executive, non-executive and chair roles across a number of FTSE listed companies and in government. Peter said: “I am very honoured to be appointed as NDA chair. My career started at one of the world’s largest uranium mines, so I feel I have come full circle.

“I’ve had a 40-year career as an engineer and executive in the UK and internationally, across the natural resources, construction, infrastructure, manufacturing and chemicals sectors, many of which have critical safety and long-term environmental and remediation requirements.

“I look forward to bringing my experience in industry, including chairing and serving on numerous boards, to working with the NDA, together with stakeholders, the management team and board members across the group, in delivering its mission.

“I am acutely aware of the importance and complexity of the work of the NDA. It has unrivalled expertise together with outstanding and highly qualified people. We will work together to deliver a lasting legacy within our communities and the UK as a whole.”

David Peattie, NDA chief executive officer, said: “It’s a privilege to welcome Peter to the NDA and I look forward to working together to deliver our mission. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the role which I am sure will prove to be invaluable.

“I would also like to thank Chris Train OBE for taking on the role of interim chair. Though his time in the role was relatively short he’s provided great leadership and will continue to play an important role as a valued member of the board.”

Peter is currently chair of Keller Group plc, the world’s largest geotechnical projects engineer, and has also previously been chair and a non-executive director on the boards of a number of organisations spanning the manufacturing, research, aerospace and defence and chemicals industries amongst others.

In government, Peter has been a non-executive board member of UK Trade and Investment, the Royal Air Force and an agency of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Peter began his executive career with multinational mining groups Anglo American, Rio Tinto, BP Minerals and Consolidated Gold Fields. During this time, he held a variety of roles covering planning, operations, project management and corporate finance. He subsequently held senior management positions with FTSE 100 engineering groups BTR and Invensys, and was an executive director on the board of Costain Group plc, the then international engineering and construction company which completed major infrastructure projects worldwide. For nine years he was the chief executive officer of Laird plc, transforming it from an industrial conglomerate to a focussed international electronics company. Peter holds a BSc in engineering and an MBA from the London Business School. He is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.