Balfour Beatty announces £160 million joint venture contract at Sellafield nuclear site

Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, announces today its joint venture with Cavendish Nuclear to construct a new silo maintenance facility for Sellafield Ltd, Cumbria, valued at £160 million.

Working in a 45:55 joint venture, Balfour Beatty and Cavendish Nuclear will deliver the facility which will be an integral part of Sellafield’s long-term waste retrieval hazard reduction programme.

This final phase of works follows the first two phases consisting of a £5.5 million preliminary design phase and £12.5 million detailed design and enabling works.

The new mechanical handling plant will support two existing waste silos with retrieving historic waste and reducing hazard.

Balfour Beatty is bringing together its broad range of expertise to deliver the project including design, procurement, civil engineering, construction and mechanical and electrical capabilities.

A team of more than 100 engineers including nuclear specialists, civil and structural engineers and architectural technicians is currently using Building Information Modelling to create a full 4D design specification that dramatically reduces the construction programme.

Work is scheduled to complete in autumn 2017, and the project will employ over 300 people at the height of construction.

Balfour Beatty executive chairman, Steve Marshall 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 Ltd’s overall waste retrieval and hazard reduction programme.”

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