Amec consortium Sellafield decommissioning deal terminated

A consortium employed by the government to complete the decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear plant, including Amec Foster Wheeler, has been told the contract will terminate nine years early.

Amec confirmed that the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) would terminate the contract at the end of the first quarter of 2016.

"The NDA has confirmed this is not performance related and this change does not impact any other Amec Foster Wheeler project work on the Sellafield site."

The agency will instead assume responsibility for the work to allow a "simplifying" of its relationship with the Sellafield project.

The Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) consortium, also made up of French energy firm AREVA and US engineering group URS, had been accused of delays and cost over-runs since it won a 17-year contract worth £9bn in 2008.

Amec said: "It is vital that the lessons learned and the progress made since NMP were awarded the contract in 2008 should not be wasted. NMP has to date generated £650m of efficiency savings and met 96% of its targets last year while Sellafield's safety performance is now the best ever."

However, the cost of making the Cumbrian site safe has been calculated at almost £80bn over 120 years.

NMP will be required to continue to ensure that safe operations are maintained at the site, with the progressive implementation of a new contractual model.

Amec Foster Wheeler said it looked forward to continuing "a significant role" in the decommissioning work at Sellafield.