Interserve, the services, maintenance and building group, has been awarded a prestigious £20 million contract with process engineering contractor Costain Oil & Gas Process Ltd.

The contract will see Interserve building 14 modules which, when connected, will construct a large evaporator plant called Evaporator D. This project will be the largest UK nuclear contract to use the modularisation technique as a method of construction. This involves the modules being constructed at Interserve's large 21,000 sq m, off-site facility based in Ellesmere Port, Liverpool. The modules will then be transported to the Sellafield site by sea and installed into concrete cells.

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When operational, Evaporator D will be used to concentrate highly-active raffinate produced during reprocessing and will also be used to process effluent from the Waste Vitrification Plant.

The largest of the 14 modules will measure 27m high and weigh circa 500 tonnes. Over the course of the project, Interserve will fabricate over 21km of pipework, bound together by over 10,000 welds. Around 300 tonnes of specialist steel will be used to make the key equipment and 400 major plant items installed. The module construction phase of the project is scheduled for completion in 2011.

Mark Graveney, Chief Operating Officer, Interserve Facilities Management, commented: "We are proud to be involved in this significant project and to be working closely with Costain and Sellafield. We have a successful 30-year history of performing large-scale projects and support services on a variety of sites across the country, including nuclear licensed sites, and I am certain the team will excel themselves in the delivery of this project."

(CD/GK)