New Dounreay site operator to be revealed next week
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DOUNREAY workers will next week find out the identity of the site’s new operator.
Two Anglo-American consortia are vying to take over the running of the remainder of the decommissioning.
BDP and Caithness Solutions have each spent millions of pounds preparing their technical cases and making their pitches to land the lucrative contract.
According to site owners the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the marathon £5 million tender exercise will more than pay for itself in terms of savings.
Not only will it reduce the £2.6 billion cost of the clean-up, it will also mean the cluster of fuel and waste buildings will be decontaminated and levelled earlier than currently scheduled.
The NDA has also pledged that the managerial change will not affect rank-and-file workers employed by site licence company DSRL.
The preferred bidder will be announced on Wednesday.
DBP comprises Babcock International and US nuclear corporations CH2M Hill and URS.
URS won the first two management contracts let by the NDA – the giant Sellafield site in west Cumbria and the nearby low-level radioactive waste dump at Drigg.
AMEC, which had been part of the so-called in-house bid, jumped ship to team up with US-based Energy Solutions to form Caithness Solutions.
Each consortium has formed dedicated teams to promote their respective bids since the competition opened in February last year.
NDA spokesman Bill Hamilton insisted the NDA is not disappointed that just two entered the race when its initial game plan had been to draw up a short list of at least three.
“We’ve been very, very pleased by the commitment and professionalism of both bidders and the enthusiasm they have shown in the way they have engaged in the process.”
Mr Hamilton said the NDA will next week reveal the minimum saving it believes the exercise will have in the cost of Dounreay’s clean-up.
He said the closure date for Dounreay – currently reckoned to be in the mid to late 2020s – would also be brought forward.
Mr Hamilton said the vast majority of the 876-strong DSRL workforce will be unaffected by the takeover.
“For over 99 per cent, there will be absolutely no change,” said Mr Hamilton. “Their terms and conditions will remain the same and the new parent body organisation cannot change them. The only change could be at the senior managerial level.”
The preferred bidder is scheduled to be on site from December 12 for a transitional period prior to the deal being concluded when it formally takes over DSRL on April 2.
