ORC International, who will be working in partnership with V4 Services, will be conducting in-depth interviews with tier 2, 3 and 4 decomissioning suppliers in the NDA Estate to assess their experiences. It will also run an online survey to capture wider feedback.

It follows a consultation on the health of the supply chain four years ago, which helped to build the existing strategy used to appoint and monitor the authority’s decommissioning suppliers. Ron Gorham, NDA head of supply chain, said the survey would help identify “what works well and what areas might need further support”.

He adds: “This research is vital and will feed into a wider review of our supply chain strategy and the various interventions so it’s very important that we obtain the widest views and experiences to ensure that the study is both robust and representative.”