The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has attacked the renewal of a contract for the cleaning up of Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site after failures to deliver on targets.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have been criticised for renewing a contract with Nuclear Management Partners Ltd (NMP) for a further five years, even though costs have risen under the contract.

The PAC said costs had risen to "astonishing levels" that clean-up costs at the complex rising from £67.5bn in 2013 to an £70bn, with overall poor progress and a failure to deliver on targets.

PAC chair Margaret Hodge said: “We are not confident that taxpayers’ interests are being protected in the contractual relationships between the private companies involved in managing and operating the Sellafield site.”

John Clarke, chief executive officer at the NDA, said that lessons had been learnt: “Both NMP and the NDA now have a much better understanding of the issues and complexities that exist at the site and the challenges that lie ahead.”

Nuclear supply chain receives £13 million investment

Centrica pulls out of energy infrastructure expansion