Sellafield nuclear plant to seek new strategic partner from April

Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria will be seeking a new strategic partner as of April 2016, once its £22bn decommissioning work has been brought in-house.

According to the magazine Building, a Sellafield Ltd board will be put together and tasked with managing the site when Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), a private sector consortium, stands down as site operator at the end of March.

The contract with NMP was terminated in March this year after it was criticised for its value for money and performance. Now, the consortium is now serving a year’s notice ahead of the new board taking over.

Together with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), on April 1 next year Sellafield Ltd will look for a strategic partner to offer advice and oversee procurement as it manages the site. Two major procurement jobs have been confirmed by the NDA as delayed until a partner has been appointed.

According to the NDA, either a single firm or a joint venture could take on the role.

Building further reported that a market source said the strategic partner position would be a multi-million pound deal.

The NMP criticism came after MPs said in 2014 that a number of issues, including missed targets and weak leadership, had led to poor progress being made with the cleanup process at the site.

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