Sellafield Ltd has selected Morgan Sindall and Arup in joint venture as its preferred delivery partner for a potential £1.1 billion contract to provide a range of essential infrastructure asset services to the Sellafield site.

The Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA) is designed to augment the current Sellafield Ltd capability with the best the supply chain has to offer to help the company deliver its mission quicker and more efficiently whilst offering better value to the taxpayer.

The contract with Morgan Sindall and Arup, expected to be signed later in the year, will run for an initial five year period but could be extended for a further 10 years.

Working in close partnership with Sellafield Ltd, the organisations will deliver a programme management and project delivery service for all infrastructure assets, primarily targeted at utility assets such as:

• Steam generation and on-site distribution;

• Electricity generation and on-site distribution;

• Water supply to site and on-site distribution;

• Compressed air generation and distribution;

• Bulk chemical storage and distribution;

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• Civil infrastructure supporting pipes and cables;

• Drainage network and sewerage treatment plant;

• Roads, bridges and car parks;

• General building facilities such as canteens and laundry.

However, the scope of work will also include non-utility assets such as:

• Analytical services facilities;

• Transport systems including road and rail;

• Flask maintenance plant;

• and Emergency Management Systems.

The ISA is the second in a series of long-term contracts that will be let by Sellafield Ltd under a new acquisition strategy introduced by parent body Nuclear Management Partners.

Through the strategy, Sellafield Ltd will establish true alliance-style contracts with its suppliers as it undertakes the important task of cleaning up and decommissioning Europe’s most complex nuclear site.

The expectation is that by working collaboratively with major partners, Sellafield Ltd will be able to deliver greater quality more efficiently – while assuring industry leading safety performance.

The ISA arrangement is also intended to deliver significant benefits to the West Cumbrian community through such projects as an apprenticeship scheme to develop local talent and will offer opportunities for the local supply chain.

Morgan Sindall is currently working in joint venture on a £136 million construction contract to upgrade a section of the M62 to alleviate traffic congestion, and continues to work with National Grid on the £320 million West Midlands Gas Alliance to replace 2,800 kilometres of ageing gas mains. The company is also working in joint venture on East London’s Lee Tunnel, the capital’s deepest ever tunnel. Undertaken for Thames Water, it is a four mile tunnelling project set for completion in 2015.

Arup has been involved with industry leading alliances in collaboration with other partners to deliver infrastructure and utilities projects at St Pancras International Station, Heathrow, M6 Toll Road and the Forth Replacement Crossing.

Both firms are keen to bring best practice from other utilities and infrastructure programmes, with an emphasis on innovation in scheduling and technical processes.

(CD/GK)