Amec wins deal for Sellafield as wind firm sold

Terry Macalister
The Guardian,
Tuesday October 7 2008

Amec showed its determination to pursue nuclear business at the expense of renewables yesterday when it signed a "transition agreement" to take over management of the Sellafield atomic site in Cumbria while selling off its wind business for £126m.
The engineering group is part of the Nuclear Management Partners consortium, which is now on course for a formal transfer of shares in Sellafield from the state-owned British Nuclear Fuels Ltd on November 24. Other consortium members include Areva of France and the US firm Washington.
The first five years of the deal would be worth about £5bn but the final transaction could run for 17 years, making it the biggest public procurement contract ever signed in the UK.
"Together we have the potential one day to export UK nuclear competencies and create a sustainable, long-term business for the UK," said Samir Brikho, chief executive of Amec.
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the government-owned agency that will continue to own the land at Sellafield, said the expected privatisation would "secure exemplary operations on the site and value for money for the taxpayer".
The contract covers the decommissioning of the former nuclear power stations at Calder Hall and Windscale on the Sellafield site plus the management of the Thorp and Mox reprocessing plants. The deal also covers the Capenhurst nuclear facility in Cheshire and an engineering design centre at Risley, near Warrington.