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Group up for £17bn Sellafield job Group up for £17bn Sellafield job
(about 2 hours later)
A consortium, including the UK's Amec, has been named as the government's preferred choice to clean up and run the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria.A consortium, including the UK's Amec, has been named as the government's preferred choice to clean up and run the Sellafield nuclear site in Cumbria.
The £1.3bn a year contract could be worth £17bn - more than the cost of the London Olympics - to Amec, Washington International and France's Areva. The £1.3bn-a-year contract may be worth £17bn, more than the cost of the London Olympics, to Amec, URS's Washington Division of the US, and France's Areva.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will continue to own the assets. Unions had feared that the change of operator could lead to job cuts, but they welcomed the decision.
A Westminster report out on Thursday claimed it could take more than 100 years to make the site safe. The government move comes as it embarks on a fresh nuclear strategy.
If confirmed, the consortium - operating under the umbrella Nuclear Management Partners - will take up the contract in October. For years, Sellafield was the source of much ire from environmental campaigners and local residents, who have been concerned about the health risks posed by living close to radioactive waste.
It would be awarded initially for a period of five years with the potential of further extension periods to a total of 17 years. Last year, the first steps in its decommissioning process were taken when the four cooling towers at Calder Hall were demolished.
But the government has been keen to speed up the process and attract world-class management to run the site in the most cost-effective manner.
The other contenders for the contract were US engineering firm CH2M Hill Nuclear Services, Fluor in partnership with Japanese electronics giant Toshiba and another consortium - SBB Nuclear - consisting of Serco, Bechtel and Babcock & Wilcox.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will continue to own the site's assets, while the winner of the bid will take over its operations and its workers, of which there are currently about 12,000.
'Significant contract'
If confirmed, the consortium - operating under the umbrella title Nuclear Management Partners - will take up the contract in October.
It is initially for a period of five years with the potential of further extension periods to a total of 17 years.
"This competition involves one of, if not the, most significant public sector procurements for UK Plc," said Stephen Henwood, NDA chairman."This competition involves one of, if not the, most significant public sector procurements for UK Plc," said Stephen Henwood, NDA chairman.
"The importance of achieving world class performance throughout the Sellafield sites cannot be underestimated.""The importance of achieving world class performance throughout the Sellafield sites cannot be underestimated."
The NDA also said that there was the opportunity for the winners of the contract to earn up to £50m a year if they use the £1.3bn given to them by the government efficiently.
Jobs safe?
Unions had expressed concerns that these efficiencies could come from reducing the work force.
But the Prospect union, which has about 15,000 members in the nuclear industry, called the NDA's decision "welcome news".
"Sellafield makes up the most complex nuclear organisation in the world so good relations between the management and the workforce will be key to its successful future," its assistant general secretary Mike Clancy said.
"We have already been involved in regular dialogue with the Nuclear Management Partners during the lengthy competition period and look forward to building on that relationship."
However campaigners at environmental charity Greenpeace were not so cheered by the news.
Ben Ayliffe, head of nuclear campaigns, said: "Looming large over this deal is the spectre of further public subsidies for nuclear.
"The degree to which the NDA has bent over backwards to accommodate foreign companies taking over Sellafield beggars belief."
And he said that the further potential £50m efficiency payments annually for the contract winners was "corporate speak for cutting corners and jobs".