AMEC teams up with nuclear clean up body

Contractor Amec has formed a major alliance with the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority and CH2M HILL to pitch for work in the UK's £56bn (£2bn a year) nuclear clean up market.

The alliance will initially target selected sites among the UK's 20 civil nuclear sites that are now being opened to competition by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Around half of these are expected to be bid by the end of 2008. Beyond this market, the partners will explore further international opportunities such as the multi-billion pound market in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, building on the alliance partners' experience in these regions.

The move will enable UKAEA, a public sector company that has historically led a significant share of the UK's nuclear clean-up work, to compete on a new and stronger basis in this market. It responds to the government's decision to open this market to competition.

This alliance shows that the NDA's mission of bringing private sector expertise and competition into the UK's civil nuclear market is working.

Amec chief executive Peter Mason

Sir Peter Mason, chief executive of AMEC, said: "This alliance shows that the NDA's mission of bringing private sector expertise and competition into the UK's civil nuclear market is working. This team has the right blend of nuclear and commercial skills to win a sizeable slice of the £2 billion a year market.”

Dipesh Shah, chief executive officer of UKAEA, said “UKAEA has led the way in decommissioning in this country, including the complete dismantling of 15 of our 26 research reactors, and accelerated programmes for our sites resulting in very substantial savings on lifetime costs.”