DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
AND CLIMATE CHANGE News Release (2009/033) issued by COI News
Distribution Service. 23 March 2009
Under the
competition to appoint a commercial operator to run the National
Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) at Sellafield it was announced today that
a consortium led by Serco with Battelle and The University of
Manchester has been selected as Recommended Bidder.
The NNL, formerly Nexia Solutions, will become an international
centre of excellence in nuclear research and development, playing
a vital role in cleaning up both the UK's nuclear waste
legacy, and also contributing to the programme of nuclear new build.
Announcing the Recommended Bidder, Energy and Climate Change
Minister Mike O'Brien said:
"I welcome the quality and commitment of the bidders in this
competition. The winner has an important task ahead.
"With new nuclear power stations in the UK coming forward by
2018, and decommissioning of old sites progressing, the National
Nuclear Laboratory will be an increasingly important facility.
"It will be a leader in high-tech nuclear skills in the UK.
And it will help safeguard the West Cumbrian economy in particular."
The role of the contractor will be to provide strategic vision
and management to the NNL and to develop it as a stand-alone
business. The contract will be for an initial three year period
with options to extend by up to two years.
DECC has been engaged in competitive dialogue with the
Recommended Bidder and QQEST, a joint venture between QinetiQ and
EnergySolutions, since October 2008.
Subject to completion of a number of outstanding actions, the
Department expects the contract to come into effect on 1 April 2009.
Notes to Editors
1. The NNL was launched by John Hutton, Secretary of State for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), on 23 July
2008. It is the successor organisation to Nexia Solutions and is
currently owned by British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL). As part of
the wind-down of BNFL, ownership of the NNL will transfer to the
Government on 1 April 2009. The Shareholder Executive will
exercise shareholder responsibilities on behalf of the Department
of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), successor to BERR.
2. The NNL currently provides a range of services, notably in
support of the nuclear decommissioning programme and the
continuing operation of British Energy's nuclear power
plants. The Government has concluded that the NNL contains a
number of critical skills essential to support nuclear power
generation in the UK.
3. The NNL will be operated under a Government Owned Contractor
Operated (GOCO) arrangement. The competition to appoint a GOCO
contractor was launched on 7 August 2008. The procurement is being
conducted under the European Union competitive dialogue procedure.
The Shareholder Executive is running the procurement on behalf of
DECC with the support of Deloitte LLP (financial adviser) and
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP (legal adviser).
Department of Energy and Climate Change
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