Sellafield has selected an Amentum joint venture as preferred supplier for a nuclear asset-care and project framework valued at up to £2.1bn, creating a substantial pipeline of engineering, procurement and decommissioning work for the venture and its supply chain.
The Projects and Asset Care Execution framework, known as PACE, will support Sellafield’s spent-fuel management and retrieval programmes. Services are expected to include engineering and design, procurement, installation, plant modification, project controls, commissioning, dismantling, removal and continuing asset care.
Amentum said delivery will involve supply-chain partners and technologies including digital visualisation and advanced robotics.
Preferred-supplier status represents a significant procurement step but is not the same as a fully executed contract. Final contractual arrangements must still be completed before delivery proceeds under the framework.
The value reflects the scale and duration of work required at Sellafield, where the operational emphasis has shifted progressively from historic nuclear production towards retrieval, waste management and decommissioning.
That transition represents one of the UK’s largest long-term infrastructure programmes. Facilities built over several decades must remain safe while radioactive materials are retrieved, treated and transferred into appropriate storage or disposal pathways.
The engineering requirements differ from conventional construction. Work frequently takes place in constrained or hazardous environments, with equipment requiring remote operation, specialist maintenance and extensive assurance before modifications can be introduced.
Those conditions are increasing the role of robotics and digital engineering. Remote inspection, visualisation and handling technologies can reduce worker exposure in higher-risk areas while providing project teams with better information about complex assets, some of which were built many decades ago.
A framework of this scale also reaches well beyond the lead contractors. Nuclear programmes depend on networks of engineering consultancies, equipment manufacturers, specialist fabricators, technology businesses and local service providers.
Sellafield remains an important anchor for the industrial economy in Cumbria and the wider North of England. Long-duration programmes can give suppliers greater visibility over future demand, although participation still depends on the allocation of individual work packages and compliance with stringent procurement and safety requirements.
The PACE decision comes during renewed UK investment across nuclear infrastructure. New-build programmes, small modular reactor development and long-term decommissioning are all competing for specialist engineering, project-management and nuclear-qualified skills.
Workforce capacity is consequently becoming as important as capital. Nuclear programmes require engineers, safety specialists, project-controls professionals and technicians whose skills are also sought by defence, energy and other complex infrastructure projects.
Supply-chain capability can therefore determine delivery as much as headline funding. Large frameworks provide a route for recruitment and investment, but contractors still need to maintain safety performance, manage cost inflation and retain scarce technical staff over lengthy programmes.
The framework gives Sellafield a mechanism for drawing on external expertise without procuring every element of asset care through isolated contracts. Suppliers gain the prospect of repeat work and a clearer basis for investing in people, equipment and technology.
The preferred-supplier decision now moves PACE towards final contracting. Once delivery begins, performance will be measured across project execution, safety and reliability, as well as progress in reducing long-term risk across some of the UK’s most complex nuclear assets.
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