A joint venture between Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear has won a £160m contract to build the final phase of a silo maintenance facility for Sellafield in West Cumbria.
Working in a 45:55 joint venture, Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear will deliver the facility which forms part of Sellafield’s long-term waste retrieval hazard reduction programme.
This is the third phase of works which follows a £5.5m preliminary design phase and £12.5m design and enabling works.
The new mechanical handling plant will support two existing waste silos with retrieving historic waste and reducing hazard. The 25 metre-high heavily reinforced concrete structure will house robotic installations to enable the Sellafield team to operate in a safe and controlled environment.
The joint venture said that a team of more than 100 engineers including nuclear specialists, civil and structural engineers and architectural technicians is working on a design specification that dramatically reduces the construction programme.
Work is scheduled to complete in autumn 2017.
Steve Marshall, executive chairman of Balfour Beatty, said: “The UK infrastructure market includes significant opportunities for nuclear decommissioning and clean-up activities. Similarly, new nuclear build and the construction of new power generation projects will bring us an opportunity to deploy our extensive experience.
“Balfour Beatty has a strong heritage in the nuclear sector including our work across the existing fleet of UK nuclear power stations and our 35 year presence at Sellafield. We look forward to working with Cavendish Nuclear to deliver a facility that will support Sellafield’s overall waste retrieval and hazard reduction programme.”
