We explored with the witnesses what Sellafield Ltd needs to do to reach the point where retrieving waste becomes an efficient, routine activity. As well as installing the right equipment, they emphasised the importance of “constant iteration” – addressing problems such as the availability of cranes as they arise and the importance of developing a site culture focussed on performance. We were also told about the importance of setting “ambitious but achievable” annual targets which motivate the workforce.28 The NDA accepted that it could be more sophisticated in how it sets targets – potentially setting targets that capture improvements in capability rather than relying on relatively simple metrics such as the quantity of waste removed.29 We also expressed our concern that it is not clear enough what the underlying assumptions behind longer–term goals are, and how optimistic they are. The Department agreed to consider how these could be drawn out and linked to annual targets.30 The NDA subsequently wrote to us to provide additional information about how Sellafield Ltd uses modelling to produce a range of scenarios for retrieving waste, and the range of factors that would need to be optimised to achieve the best case outcomes. However there is currently no visibility of what these underlying assumptions are – or of how likely each scenario is to occur.31 27 Q 23; Letter from the Group Chief Executive Officer at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 March on Decommissioning Sellafield, 4 April 2025, page 8 28 Qq 15, 48, 55, 89–90 29 Q 19 30 Qq 25, 27–28 31 Letter from the Group Chief Executive Officer at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority relating to the oral evidence session held on 20 March on Decommissioning Sellafield, 4 April 2025, page 8 12 2 Management of projects and programmes to build or maintain assets Delivering major projects and programmes at Sellafield