Quantity surveyor Faithful & Gould is to act as adviser on the £4bn decommissioning of the Dounreay nuclear plant on the north coast of Scotland.
Faithful & Gould will provide planning expertise on the projects that are expected to be included in the Dounreay site restoration plan. These will include the construction of between 15 and 20 facilities that are required for decommissioning purposes.

The company, a subsidiary of WS Atkins, is recruiting additional staff to support those that have already started working on the 140-acre site.

Faithful & Gould's North-east planning manager Ian MacKenzie said: "We are providing the project with planning expertise and personnel to develop schedules and programmes, to give an idea of how and when the works on individual projects are going to be carried out."

The UK Atomic Energy Authority awarded the three-year contract to Faithful & Gould earlier this month.

Energy minister Brian Wilson decided against refurbishing the plant in June and set in motion the 60-year decommissioning programme.

The UKAEA drew up a report last October, advocating the site be turned into development land. In total, there is 109 tonnes of nuclear fuel on site, as well as 300 facility buildings.