About us
Research Sites Restoration Limited (RSRL) is the site licence company responsible for the closure programme at Harwell and Winfrith. Winfrith was a major centre for groundbreaking reactor development from the late 1950s to the 1990s whilst Harwell’s origins go back to the dawn of the UK’s nuclear industry in the 1940s.
RSRL has held the site licence, waste disposal authorisation and other necessary legal permits for managing the site since February 2, 2009. Before then, the site was managed by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
RSRL operates under contract to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and conducts its business to the highest financial, ethical and legal business standards.
On October 31, 2009, UKAEA Ltd was sold by the UK Atomic Energy Authority to Babcock International Group. Some senior management positions within RSRL are occupied by staff seconded from Babcock.
RSRL employs approximately 443 people. It also sub-contracts work to companies in the supply chain and this provides employment for a number of other people.
The longer term strategy for Harwell and Winfrith is the progressive delicensing of both nuclear licensed sites. The NDA’s decision to focus expenditure on hazard reduction means that some work at Harwell and Winfrith will be deferred in the near term.

