The NDA has announced the names of the businesses and organisations which have been shortlisted for the prestigious 2015 Supply Chain Awards.

Launched in 2012, the awards are jointly sponsored by the NDA and its Site Licence Companies, with the aim of acknowledging the vital role of suppliers in delivering progress across the estate. 

Award categories include collaboration, technology implementation and SME innovation, with a new award for exports, in conjunction with UKTI. The Minister’s SME award is selected from all individual entries. 

The NDA’s Ron Gorham, Chair of the judging panel, said the quality of entries for 2015 was extremely high:

“It was a real pleasure to look at more than 60 successful projects of all sizes. We were again impressed by the sheer volume of fantastic projects in the collaboration category and also from the SME community, demonstrating clearly that smaller companies excel at innovation.”

The winners will be announced to an audience of around 1,500 visitors at the NDA Estate Supply Chain Event today, which takes place at Eventcity in Manchester. 

Technology/Innovation Implementation (new award for 2015)

Shortlist:

• TWI, and Magnox with Fanuc Robotics – implementing an automated remote laser cutting facility for size reduction of ILW skips Hinkley A
• Forth Engineering and Sellafield –to provide a solution to drive a redundant, severely corroded hydraulic ramusing SME expertise and off-the-shelf equipment to solve a Sellafield problem at low cost
• James Fisher Nuclear leading on behalf of Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd and Sellafield – development of innovative remote handling and size reduction equipment for Legacy Ponds projects at Sellafield

SME Innovation

Again, lots of great SME innovation being shown this year

 Shortlist:

• Oxford Technologies – design and manufacture of Dounreay Shaft Intervention Platform to retrieve waste from the shaft by water jetting

• BD Nuclear Ltd – cutting and removing a 1ton block of contaminated concrete to open up a FED vault without any material or fluid entering the cell for Magnox

• Penny Nuclear – design, manufacture and installation of FED retrieval system at Bradwell

• Unblock Ltd – removal and dewatering of LLW sediment with minimal human contact, to give a solid product suitable for offsite landfill for LLWR

• NSG Environmental Ltd – supporting Magnox Ltd in the novel development and application (with bags developed by Rutpen Ltd) of a combined inorganic (cement) and organic matrix (from the US company Nochar) for water recovery applications, used in Harwell storage tubes

• DBD Ltd – provision of a Dynamic simulator for pre-operational and commissioning testing and training for Evaporator D at Sellafield

Collaboration

Shortlist:

There were many great examples of collaboration, either direct supply chain collaboration or collaborations giving wider community benefit: 

• Cumbria Nuclear Solutions Ltd – consortium of Jacobs Stobbart Ltd, James Fisher Nuclear Ltd, React Engineering, Shepley Engineers, Westinghouse Electric Company, WYG Engineering which has been operating at Sellafield for last 9 years. Formed with the objective of enabling smaller companies to work together to deliver the full lifecycle of a project – good long-term successful collaboration

• Nuvia and Global Platforms – Nuvia’s collaboration with Global Platforms, an SME new to industry provided them with valuable upskilling and improved processes which will enable them to bid for more nuclear work in the future

• PPS Electrical, Lakes College, Hilti, Arco, Edmundson Cabletech Carlisle, Sellafield Ltd, JTL –this supplier collaboration helped improve the experience for students at the start of their apprenticeship journey by providing training, PPE/equipment and materials

• Morgan Sindall and Arup on the Infrastructure Strategic Alliance at Sellafield – for its support in developing the west Cumbrian economy with initiatives for supply chain, skills and BEC blueprint development

• Supply Chain Quality Event Review Team (SC QERT) – developing the mechanics for sharing and communicating Learning From Experience between Sellafield Ltd and the Supply Chain to improve the performance of projects across the nuclear industry, making a positive impact on quality, cost and schedule. Current participating members include: Interserve, Amec Foster Wheeler, Ansaldo NES, Arup, Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Cavendish Nuclear, Costain, AMA, Sir Robert McAlpine, Urenco, Morgan Sindall, M+W Group, Nuvia, GE Group, Magnox Ltd and Sellafield Ltd

• BECBC (Britain’s Energy Coast Business Cluster) – encouraging collaboration, partnership, and co-operation between its 250-plus members for over 10 years, from the largest to the smallest, with particular focus on the Decommissioning and Waste Sector Group, encouraging mutual support and business to business trading

• Innovus – collaboration by academic and research organisations , the University of Manchester and National Nuclear Laboratory, working with SMEs to develop their innovations for commercial applications

• Gen2 – long-term collaboration with Sellafield Ltd, providing cost-effective nuclear training solutions including apprentice training, trainee schemes and education programmes including a dedicated practical training facility at Energus

Export Award

New award this year

• React Engineering Ltd/Createc – REACT and Createc successfully exported their unique N-VisageTM Gamma Imaging System, used previously at Sellafield and Dounreay, together with analysis and consultancy support which provided valuable information to inform future clean-up activities at Fukushima.

Minister’s Award

Shortlist:

• Forth Engineering
• NSG Environmental Ltd
• Oxford Technologies
• React Engineering Ltd/Createc

Supply chain event

All 270 business stands are now taken, while more than 1,600 delegates have signed up to attend the event at EventCity, including a strong interest from the international nuclear sector.

Countries represented include China, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Canada, Russia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, the Netherlands and Slovenia.

Ron Gorham, the NDA’s Head of Supply Chain Optimisation and SME Champion, said:

“We’d love to welcome everyone who wishes to come along and still have room for more visitors.”

Now in its 5th year, the annual event is organised jointly by the NDA and its Site Licence Companies (SLCs). The aim is to provide greater visibility of contracting opportunities across the decommissioning sector, through informal networking and access to senior industry figures. The event also welcomes representatives from MoD Defence Equipment and Support Submarines Programme and UKTI.

A particular focus is encouraging Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) seeking to work in the UK’s decommissioning market.

Based on a “Connect and Innovate” theme, the event will feature a central Innovation Zone, sponsored by the government’s Innovate UK, with 44 stands focused on research and technology demonstrations during the day.

The day will start with a range of presentations by representatives from the UK Government, NDA and MoD, with speakers from the Site Licence Companies giving presentations in the afternoon.

Entry is free of charge.

Register to attend Supply Chain Event 2015

Ron Gorham, the NDA’s Head of Supply Chain Optimisation and SME Champion, said:

“The day is tailored to meet the aspirations of businesses at all levels of the supply chain, and encourage new suppliers to get involved. We are very conscious that the supply chain is vital to our mission, and we wish to ensure it remains healthy and dynamic.”

A major highlight of the morning will be the presentation ceremony for the winners of the prestigious 2015 NDA Estate Supply Chain Awards, including the Minister’s Award which will be presented by Lord Bourne.