PPP awards third Sellafield framework

The scope of work includes the design (where appropriate), supply, installation, testing and commissioning of mechanical equipment for PPP's portfolio of projects. There will be review points to ensure continued alignment between PPP and the selected supply chain partners.

This is the third Key Delivery Partner (KDP) framework to be awarded by PPP. The first was for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) work awarded to Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick and EJ Parker in November 2021 and the second was for electrical and instrumentation awarded to Balfour Beatty Kilpatrick and NG Bailey in February this year.

"We are delighted to have confirmed our third long-term work partnership for PPP," said Peter Hogg, head of supply chain for PPP. "I am confident that these two companies will bring positive innovations and value to our projects. They will also be working closely with SMEs within these frameworks to ensure enhanced project delivery, and increased social impact and economic benefits for our communities."

Sellafield Ltd is the organisation responsible for the safe operation and clean-up of the Sellafield site in Cumbria, UK, as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA). The site - which houses over more than 1000 buildings - is the largest nuclear complex in Western Europe. Sellafield's nuclear facilities include those connected with the Magnox reprocessing program, the Sellafield mixed-oxide fuel plant, the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant, and nuclear waste treatment plants. It is also home to redundant facilities from defence work in the 1950s, which included making plutonium for nuclear weapons.

In May 2019, Sellafield Ltd awarded four 20-year contracts which together form the PPP. The company said it will work collaboratively with the four partners - Doosan Babcock Ltd, Kellogg Brown & Root Ltd, Morgan Sindall Infrastructure and Wood plc - to deliver major projects in support of the site's 100-year decommissioning programme. The contracts were said to be worth up to a combined USD6 billion across the Sellafield site over the 20-year period. The nuclear arm of Wood has since been acquired by Jacobs and so the company is generally no longer affiliated with PPP.

The KDP Framework strategy creates long-term work partnerships by appointing supply chain partners to deliver common construction elements across mechanical, civil, electrical HVAC, steelwork and other key scopes. The frameworks have been procured under a new Multi Project Procurement model which encourages long-term collaboration, enhanced project delivery, and greater economic and social impact in west Cumbria.