Nuclear mattersAMEC-led consortium to clean up Sellafield

Published 14 July 2008

Treating and cleaning nuclear waste is part and parcel of nuclear power generation; The U.K. government, a proponent of greater reliance on nuclear power, takes steps to deal with legacy waste problems

With the increasing interest in nuclear power generation, we should be mindful of dealing with the process’s by product: nuclear waste. The U.K. government, a leading proponent of greater reliance on nuclear power, is taking steps to deal with legacy waste problems. The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has selected an AMEC-led consortium as preferred bidder in the competition to act as a Parent Body Organisation (PBO) for Sellafield. The consortium, Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), comprises AMEC, AREVA, and URS Washington Division. Dr. Ian Roxburgh, NDA chief executive, said: “The selection of NMP as the Sellafield preferred bidder is a significant step forward in the NDA’s drive to attract world-class management and innovation to the UK’s nuclear decommissioning industry. NMP has emerged from a very strong field of four bidders and the NDA will now move towards contract finalisation and ultimately the award of this contract, the successful implementation of which is crucial to the mission of the overall clean-up and decommissioning of the U.K.’s existing nuclear legacy.”

The NDA will now start detailed discussions with NMP leading to finalising the contract, which is expected in October 2008. The PBO contract covers the reprocessing and waste storage facilities at Sellafield; the former nuclear power stations Calder Hall and Windscale (all in West Cumbria); the Capenhurst nuclear site; and an engineering design centre at Risely in Cheshire.