A single strategic partner and three delivery partners will support multibillion-pound decommissioning work at the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria under a long-awaited new framework.
The deadline for bids on the Infrastructure Delivery Partnership (IDP) has been extended by one week to 17 March, and selected candidates are scheduled to receive invitations to tender by 19 July.
A tender document from Sellafield Ltd, released on 10 February, stated that the IDP is worth up to £3.44bn and split into four lots for “conventional infrastructure projects and tasks”.
The IDP will take the place of the older Infrastructure Strategic Alliance procurement model, which involved a joint venture between Morgan Sindall and Arup.
Sellafield Ltd will select a strategic partner in the £495m Lot 1 to provide “strategic front-end definition, portfolio management and engineering to define a single viable option”.
The three future delivery partners will use this single option as the basis for completing “detailed design and all procurement, installation, construction, commissioning and handover activities that form part of delivery”.
There will be one delivery partner apiece for electrical distribution (Lot 2 for £1.29bn), utilities (Lot 3 for £1.06bn) and civils (Lot 4 for £595m).
Work on each IDP lot will take an initial nine years with an option to extend for six more.
Sellafield Ltd, the state-owned client responsible for decommissioning the nuclear plant, expects a maximum of three bids for Lot 1 and up to four for the others.
It had expected the IDP procurement to begin last month. Construction News reported in November that the procurement process had been delayed, as it had not yet received approval from the Treasury.
A spokesperson for Morgan Sindall said the company would not comment on whether it would seek to participate in the IDP framework.
Sellafield Ltd noted in a statement that the IDP “is open to all companies [that] wish to provide a response to the recently released selection questionnaire. This includes all incumbent contractors, including, but not limited to, the current ISA contractors.”
The client added: “In order to create a level playing field, and as a condition of any participation in the procurement, Sellafield Ltd requires all incumbent contractors to take certain steps, including identifying ‘conflicted’ staff and management, and implementation of a separation protocol, including both physical separation and information barriers between their services and bid teams.
“To further level the playing field for all, Sellafield Ltd [has] included within the selection questionnaire pack a summary of early market engagement undertaken to date, IDP contract scenarios to build understanding and inform bid back positions, and case studies of infrastructure and asset care at Sellafield Ltd including issues, typical tasks and considerations.”
Arup declined to comment.
Sellafield Ltd is also seeking decommissioning contractors in a separate £5bn framework to last 15 years. The Decommissioning Nuclear and Waste Partnership will replace a separate framework that will end in 2025.
Last week, Sir Robert McAlpine was appointed to a 17-year, £1bn groundworks and concrete structures framework for nuclear decommissioning at Sellafield.
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A leading nuclear decommissioning and waste management site, Sellafield, is seeking stakeholders to explore a partnership opportunity associated with a £3.4 billion infrastructure delivery framework.
Sellafield, located in Cumbria, United Kingdom, is offering the opportunity for private or semi-private organisations to partner with the company and participate in a framework for a range of maintenance and infrastructure delivery services.
The framework covers all of the current activities associated with Sellafield’s high hazard infrastructure, from fabrication to design and installation.
Companies are being sought to collaborate and to bring their expertise, skills and capacities to the project. This could be in the form of strategic advice, project management, engineering and technical services.
The tender process is set to launch in September 2021, allowing an opportunity for companies to express interest in the framework and begin discussions on how they could be involved. The total framework cost is expected to be approximately £3.4 billion, with a potential to fund more depending upon the scope of the projects identified.
This is a great opportunity for private and semi-private organisations to get involved in one of the major projects in the decommissioning and nuclear waste management sector. With the framework expected to start in 2022, Sellafield is keen to get stakeholder involvement as soon as possible.
Sellafield have identified a need for fresh thinking, collaboration and innovation to ensure projects can be delivered safely, on time, and to a high standard. They are keen to invite stakeholders to bring their particular areas of expertise to the project.
This framework presents an opportunity for an organisation to engage in a project that delivers legacy management, research and development, and long term infrastructure solutions for the nuclear industry.
For further information, or to express interest in the framework project, please visit the Sellafield website or contact the company directly.
