Field Fisher Waterhouse advises on completion of Sellafield decommissioning procurement
08 December 2008
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP has advised the Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on the appointment of a contractor
to undertake the management of operations across the sites covered
by Sellafield Ltd. Nuclear Management Partners Ltd (NMP),
which is a consortium of URS’ Washington Division Holdings Ltd.,
AMEC and AREVA NC, has been appointed for an initial engagement of
five years, to a maximum of 17 years duration, with renewal points
at five and ten years.
The process of decommissioning the Sellafield
nuclear sites will take up to 125 years and, at current estimates,
will cost £23.6bn (discounted). The appointment of a contractor to
provide the management of the operation for up to the next 17 years
is one of the highest, if not the highest value civil public
procurements in Europe. Nuclear Management Partners Ltd will be the
first private sector commercial company to be appointed to manage a
civil nuclear site engaged in fuel reprocessing
operations.
Field Fisher Waterhouse advised the NDA on the
competitive dialogue process which involved the participation of
four bidders. Working with the NDA, the firm developed contracts
and fee structures that are highly complex and sophisticated in
order to accommodate a new corporate structure, the hazardous
nature of the task, the complex risk issues involved and certain
regulatory anomalies. The resulting contracts are expected to
set the standard for future large scale public procurements.
This work involved around 30 partners and
fee-earners from across the firm, led by public procurement
partner, David Gollancz. The project reflects the firm’s expertise
in high level public sector work and means that Field Fisher
Waterhouse is currently working on two of the highest value and
highest profile public sector procurements in western Europe, the
second being the National Identity Scheme which will introduce ID
cards.
Dr Ian Hudson, the
NDA’s Sellafield Programme Director said: “We would like to
thank our professional advisers for working with us on this over
the last year. The competition process and the contract itself
were unprecedented in their size and complexity and we are pleased
to have completed the process with the appointment of NMP.“
David Gollancz, Field Fisher Waterhouse said:
“This project is complex, highly regulated and politically
sensitive. The initial stages of the 125-year operation are
potentially the most hazardous and cleaning up the site safely and
efficiently is of national importance: Sellafield is rated by the
Government as one of its top five fiscal risks. We have worked very
closely with the NDA over the past 18 months on a highly
collaborate competitive dialogue process to ensure that the
contract and fee structure are robust and that the chosen
contractor will do the best job possible.”
Nuclear Management Partners Ltd was advised by
Hammonds.
For further press information please
contact:
Louise Eckersley, PR Manager,
Field Fisher Waterhouse LLP on 020 7861 4120.