This article is the text of a speech given in the plenary session of the Nuclear Institute Congress in Manchester in October 2013. It's a great honour to be able to address the inaugural Nuclear Institute Congress. I was asked by the committee to say a few words on the 'UK legacy clean-up'. The word nuclear wasn't included, but I think I should insert it. It seems unlikely that the Nuclear Institute would want a discussion of post-colonialism and, even if it did, I'm certain that I'm not qualified to give it. But I did give some thought to the word 'legacy' and how we use it. Dictionary definitions vary, with a strong element of something passed down from a previous person by legal force - and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)'s estate and Energy Act certainly have that. But the overriding feeling in the definitions, and in the way we use the word, is that the thing passed on is a thing of value; something to be cared for and cherished and, ultimately perhaps, passed on to the next generation. After all, when Great Aunt Ethel leaves you a legacy, that is something to be pleased about, perhaps even to feel honoured about, that she entrusted you with a precious thing.
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