BE renews engineering and technical support contract
02 May 2008
British Energy (BE) has renewed a contract worth up to £20 million ($40 million) annually over five years for engineering and technical support to its nuclear power plants with a team of strategic partners.
AMEC, Atkins, Frazer-Nash Consultancy and Serco Assurance will work alongside BE in what the group calls the Technical Support Alliance (TSA). BE said that other companies will become involved as business needs develop and that the contracts could also be extended beyond the initial five years.
The TSA is the renewal of a previous arrangement which has already delivered more than £80 million ($160 million) of work and provided BE with access to specialist third party technical capability.
In a statement BE said, "Within the TSA, each participant has a vested interest in ensuring successful delivery. The more reliable British Energy's engineering delivery then the greater likelihood of generating more reliably. All partners contribute to the annual TSA business plan and are able to help each other to achieve greater efficiencies."
Malcolm Twist, head of supply chain and outage at BE, said: "This is a skilled team that will provide technical support to our fleet of nuclear reactors to ensure they continue to meet the energy needs of the UK. The TSA provides the company with long term access to a highly qualified pool of engineering skills and experience." He added, "This is one of the decisive actions British Energy is taking to ensure that we maintain a steady supply of technical expertise. Working together will provide British Energy sustainable support for the lives of the power stations. The level and type of expertise that British Energy requires will vary over time and the TSA is designed to have the flexibility to accommodate this need."
BE, the UK's largest electricity generator, owns and operates eight nuclear power reactors, comprising seven Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) and the country's only Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR).