Five suppliers have been awarded a framework contract for the Magnox decommissioning programme worth £485m.

Work on 10 reactor sites, two research sites and one hydro-electric plant across the UK operated by Magnox will involve complex nuclear infrastructure decommissioning and asbestos removal services.

The winning firms are:

Costain
Keltbray
The Celadon Alliance of Altrad Support Services, KDC Veolia Decommissioning Services annd NSG Environmental Ltd
Kaefer UK & Ireland
Nuvia

Paul Winkle, Magnox chief operating officer said: “This new Decommissioning and Asbestos Removal (DAR) framework contract builds on the success of the previous one. It is a key, collaborative business tool that will provide an efficient, cost-effective route to market to decommission, demolish or re-use redundant buildings.”

“Magnox cleaned-up 23,000 m2 of asbestos and created a 7,400 m2 demolition footprint last year – that’s the collective size of 45 tennis courts. This is a significant achievement for the company and all the supply chain partners involved. We’re looking to deliver even more this year and the new DAR framework contract will simplify the procurement process to do that.”

Sam White, Managing Director for the natural resources division, Costain,, said: “Costain has been implementing innovative solutions to deal with legacy nuclear waste for over 20 years and these awards build on our decommissioning heritage with Magnox.

“Our previous work across the Magnox fleet has been instrumental in moving sites towards care and maintenance – essentially defueling, decommissioning and creating safestores. This work represents a significant milestone along the decommissioning journey towards eventual final site clearance.”

Keltbray’s Chief Executive Officer, Darren James, said: “We are delighted to be partnering with Magnox to fulfil their requirements to safely and securely deliver these site closure programmes, which are of huge national importance.

“Our role on both lots of the framework highlights Keltbray’s growing strengths in the design, delivery, maintenance and decommissioning of highly regulated UK legacy assets.  We are excited to get started and are looking forward to working with the wider industry to deliver Magnox’s mission for the benefit of the UK.”