Wood secures £770m Sellafield contract

Sellafield is the largest nuclear complex in western Europe

Aberdeen-based engineering services firm Wood has won a contract worth up to $1bn (£770m) to support Sellafield's nuclear decommissioning programme.

Under the deal, Wood will act as design and engineering partner for the Cumbria site over the next 20 years.

The contract includes providing front-end design and engineering services for a range of major projects at the site.

Wood is among four firms selected under Sellafield's new Programme and Project Partners (PPP) procurement model.

The others are: Kellogg Brown and Root (integration), Morgan Sindall Infrastructure (civil construction management) and Doosan Babcock (process construction management).

Together, they will deliver "multiple" capital projects with a combined value of up to $6bn across the Sellafield site.

Sellafield site

The Sellafield site became operational in the 1940s, when it was used as a munitions factory.

In the 1950s, the world's first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, and the Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor were developed there. Sellafield went on to generate electricity for nearly half a century.

Sellafield Ltd is responsible for the safe operation and clean-up of the site, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Sellafield is the largest nuclear complex in western Europe, covering two square miles. There are more than 1,000 buildings at the site.

The decommissioning programme is due to run for more than 100 years.

Source: Sellafield Ltd

Sellafield Ltd said the new procurement model would "support the transformation of the company from a nuclear operator into a world leader in environmental remediation".

Bob MacDonald, from Wood, said: "This is a fantastic endorsement of Wood's ability to meet the most complex nuclear decommissioning challenges.

"This award reflects a highly collaborative approach that we adopt to achieve shared outcomes with customers and partners."

Sellafield chief executive Paul Foster said: "The award of the PPP contracts marks the start of a new, and very different, journey for Sellafield Ltd and our supply chain partners.

"Our number one priority is making Sellafield safer, sooner, and a key part of this is establishing closer relationships with other expert organisations."