The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, formed by the Energy Act 2004. It evolved from the Coal and Nuclear Liabilities Unit of the Department of Trade and Industry. It came into existence during late 2004, and took on its main functions on 1 April 2005. Its purpose is to deliver the decommissioning and clean-up of the UK's civil nuclear legacy in a safe and cost-effective manner, and where possible to accelerate programmes of work that reduce hazard. The NDA does not directly manage the UK's nuclear sites. It oversees the work through contracts with specially designed companies known as site licence companies. The NDA determines the overall strategy and priorities for managing decommissioning. Although the NDA itself employs about 250 staff, its subsidiaries employ about 15,000 staff across the NDA estate. Its annual budget is £3.2billion, the vast majority of which is spent through contracts with site licence companies, who also subcontract to other companies which provide special services. The NDA aims to do this by introducing innovation and contractor expertise through a series of competitions similar to the model that has been used in the United States. In April 2017, the NDA lost a legal case in the Supreme Court regarding the procurement of a sizeable contract for the decommissioning of twelve different Magnox nuclear facilities when EnergySolutions EU (now called ATK Energy EU) challenged a decision in connection with ATK's unsuccessful bid. In February 2018 Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) concluded that the NDA had "dramatically under-estimated" costs and "completely failed" in the procurement and management of the Magnox Ltd contract, which was one of the highest value contracts let by the government. An independent inquiry into the deal was set up. Activities Objectives The main objectives of NDA are to: eliminate site hazards and develop waste solutions; ensure the highest standards in safety, security and environmental management; build an effective world class industry; gain full approval and support from stakeholders (employees, contractors, government, local communities and general public); and make best use of assets and maximise value-for-money. Structure Responsibility for operating the sites has been restructured into five site licence companies (SLC). Management of the SLCs is contracted out to different parent body organisations (PBO), some of which were initially owned by private companies. Sellafield Ltd was previously BNFL's British Nuclear Group subsidiary. It