In a government announcement, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority group chair Peter Hill CBE said he would step down on 17 April in order to focus on other existing and possible future board roles. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero also confirmed that Catriona Schmolke CBE has been appointed interim chair while a competitive external recruitment process is launched. The immediate message from the statement is continuity rather than disruption. The change is at board level, with day-to-day management remaining with the executive team, but it still matters because the chair sets the tone for oversight, scrutiny and engagement with ministers.
According to the government statement, Hill leaves after a period in which the NDA board was reshaped and the group's governance arrangements were strengthened. The department also pointed to the 2024/25 Spending Review, during which the NDA received the largest grant settlement in its history, alongside delivery through 2025/26 with what it described as a much improved safety record. That is a notable mix of achievements for a public body with a long-term clean-up mission and a large public funding requirement. For Policy Wire readers, the key point is that the outgoing chair is being credited not only with board stewardship, but also with helping the organisation present itself as more orderly, more accountable and better prepared to deliver a refreshed strategy.
Hill's own statement was brief and formal, describing it as a privilege to lead the board of a group with a nationally important mission. That phrasing is consistent with the NDA's role in overseeing decommissioning and clean-up work across the civil nuclear estate, where board decisions carry operational, financial and public confidence consequences over many years. For that reason, chair appointments at the NDA are not merely ceremonial. They sit at the meeting point between ministerial sponsorship, corporate governance, safety assurance and major public expenditure. A change in chair does not automatically signal a change in policy, but it does affect how challenge and assurance are applied at the top of the organisation.
NDA group chief executive David Peattie used the announcement to thank Hill for his support and guidance since joining in June 2024, saying he had made a significant impact. Nuclear Minister Patrick Vallance also credited Hill with leadership and strategic insight, and pointed in particular to the transfer of Hunterston B nuclear power station into government ownership. That ministerial reference is important because it places the departure in the context of delivery, not simply board housekeeping. The government is presenting the handover as taking place after a period of concrete progress on governance and asset transition, rather than in response to an identified failure or dispute.
The appointment of Catriona Schmolke as interim chair gives the department space to maintain board continuity while it runs a full external competition. In practical terms, an interim arrangement is designed to keep decision-making stable while ministers and officials test the field for a permanent appointee. The use of a competitive external search also matters in governance terms. It indicates that DESNZ wants a formal process for selecting the next chair, rather than moving immediately to a permanent internal or direct appointment. That should help preserve confidence in the oversight framework during the transition.
On the face of the government announcement, the near-term effect is limited to leadership at board level. There is no indication of a change to the NDA's mission, funding direction or strategic priorities, and the statement instead emphasises readiness to deliver the group's refreshed strategy. The next question for policy watchers will be whether the permanent recruitment process produces a chair with a similar focus on governance reform and board discipline, or one with a different emphasis as the NDA moves into the next phase of delivery. For now, the official line is clear: a planned handover, an interim appointment already in place, and a formal search for Hill's successor.