THE decommissioning of Hinkley Point A nuclear power station could be completed and the site returned to its former green field status within 25 years. The 40-year-old Magnox reactor on the West Somerset coast stopped generating power in 2000 but under current proposals the final site clearance and closure would not happen until 2104. Now the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, which came into being just four months ago, has published plans that would see the 104-year timescale for Hinkley and eight other Magnox reactors dramatically cut and the process of decommissioning vastly accelerated. The details are revealed in the NDA's first draft strategy which provides for the first time a national plan for the decommissioning and clean-up of 20 civil nuclear sites. Since it was taken out of operation fuel has progressively been removed from the Hinkley reactors and sent to the Sellafield plant in Cumbria for treatment, a process which is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The station has also produced its environmental impact assessment for decommissioning, which has been approved by the Health and Safety Executive's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. And a number of preparatory projects have started to enable decommissioning to get underway. Now the NDA believes there is a strong case for abandoning the current approach in favour of defuelling, decommissioning and the release of the site for alternative uses by 2030. It says the main advantages would be: l Better use of the existing knowledgeable workforce and the associated socio-economic benefits for the local area. l Earlier availability of the site for other uses. l Fewer intermediate level waste stores needed. l Reduction of the visible impact of the reactors. l Mitigation of the potential threat of coastal erosion and climate change. The NDA says the proposed approach would be similar to that adopted by EDF in France for the decommissioning of their gas-cooled reactors, while in Japan, operators plan to decommission their Magnox reactors within 17 years. The NDA plans to consult widely on its plans and wants to hear the public's views by November. It will also develop a detailed financial assessment of the new approach, hoping to go out to tender for the management of Hinkley A by 2007. But the swifter clean-up has already been welcomed by anti-nuclear campaigners. Stop Hinkley spokesman Jim Duffy said: "We welcome the sea-change in thinking that seems to have occurred regarding decommissioning. "We have campaigned hard for this for several years and are delighted to hear our own approach now reflected so unambiguously by the NDA. "Leaving the radioactive reactor hulks dormant for a century would leave them to the vagaries of the environment and terrorism, landing our great- grandchildren with a problem not of their making. "Cleaning them up within a generation is the correct thing to do." NDA chairman Sir Anthony Cleaver admitted that the new strategy was ambitious and challenging but deliverable with regulator, government and stakeholder support. "Put simply, we want to achieve decommissioning and clean-up more quickly, more cost effectively, more safely and in a more environmentally friendly manner." Sir Anthony said the costs of decommissioning and clean-up were already substantial and projected costs would almost certainly rise, although the NDA was confident that over time these could be driven down. Effective management of the nuclear legacy almost meant being sensitive to the impact of the proposals on local communities. "Decommissioning and clean-up will continue to be a major source of employment in many areas for decades to come." NDA staff will be hosting or attending meetings around the country during the consultation period.