A Cumbrian collaboration has secured contracts worth up to £10 million to produce waste containers for Sellafield.
The Cumbria Manufacturing Alliance has won two contracts to supply 3m³ boxes to Sellafield over the next four years, helping to accelerate waste retrievals on the site.
The Alliance includes Bendalls Engineering from Carlisle and West Cumberland Engineering from Workington, plus other partners.
The work will deliver the first 60 legacy box assemblies to support the Box Encapsulation Plant’s active commissioning phase.
The boxes will be made from stainless steel and designed to remotely handle intermediate level waste being retrieved from Sellafield’s legacy ponds.
The initial phase will be to complete box design for manufacture before moving into box production, with the first six-off assemblies planned to be delivered by autumn next year.
Gareth Frazer, Sellafield Ltd’s head of manufacturing and engineering solutions, said: “This contract is great news for Sellafield, as this work is a key enabler for accelerating retrievals, and for two companies in Cumbria, who will be creating opportunities for upskilling and development of people.
“It will also build on supply chain capability and capacity in manufactured products for nuclear decommissioning in our region.
“As the BEP project progresses, the first 3m³ boxes will be used to complete vital commissioning work including testing performance o
