Last updated 16:24, Friday, 25 July 2008

NUCLEAR Management Partners have been named the preferred bidders to be Sellafield’s new parent body organisation, the winners of a contract described as the biggest in the world.

all smiles: Bob Pedde (left) and Tom Zarges from Nuclear Management Partners named as the preferred bidders

The American-led consortium – headed by San Francisco-based URS Corporation, British engineering group Amec and French nuclear firm Areva – will run the Sellafield site under a £20 billion contract.

NMP, subject to finalisation, will take control of the plant from November, becoming responsible for its decommissioning and closure – a job that could take up to 100 years to complete.

But the group assured workers and the West Cumbrian public: “You’ll like what we’ve got planned.”

NMP beat off competition from three rival bids to land the contract, which is worth more than the London 2012 Olympics.

The group will be handed £1.3 billion a year to run the plant. The contract has an initial five-year phase with another 12 years on offer subject to performance.

West Lakes Renaissance and regeneration organisation Cumbria Vision welcomed the announcement and Rosie Mathisen, nuclear opportunities director for West Lakes Renaissance, said: “NMP has a huge part to play in bringing about changes that will make the Sellafield site more efficient, as well as helping to preserve a long-term future for the site.

“The competition has been hotly contested by four excellent bidders and NMP should be congratulated on their success.

“They will bring much-needed private sector expertise into West Cumbria, with a broader international experience from which West Cumbria can only benefit.

“NMP will have a vital role in the wider regeneration of West Cumbria, in particular in helping us to realise the vision for the Britain’s Energy Coast programme – a vision which I know everyone in West Cumbria shares.

“We hope NMP will act as a catalyst for further business investment in the area.

“The announcement gives us renewed optimism for West Cumbria’s future. In the past few years we have welcomed the NDA, seen the birth of Energus – the National Skills Academy for Nuclear, and a new campus for the University of Cumbria.

“The establishment here of the National Nuclear Laboratory through competition builds on our new skills, education and research and development.

“We believe these assets make West Cumbria an even stronger contender for the next wave of nuclear new build, helping ‘UK plc’ meet its climate change, energy security, and affordable energy needs.”

Simon Sjenitzer, strategy director at Cumbria Vision, said: “This is fantastic news, bearing in mind the full range of capabilities within the organisation.

“If NMP fulfil all their potential, then we are really on the way to transforming the economy in the West, with obvious benefits to the whole of Cumbria. 

“We are looking forward to working with NMP over the coming years on a wide range of economic regeneration issues.

“But while the clean-up process begins, Cumbria Vision and its partners will continue to lay the foundations for the future by lobbying the private sector to consider Sellafield as a site for new build.

“The site has many strong assets but also challenges.

“The key is to press the positives and address the negatives so we can move forward to another era of nuclear power generation in West Cumbria.”