Cavendish Nuclear awarded £95m contract to supply Sellafield

Babcock International Group subsidiary Cavendish Nuclear, the UK’s largest nuclear services business, has been awarded a 10-year contract to supply Sellafield with specialist handling and containment systems to process nuclear material.

Worth up to £95m over the first three years, Cavendish will meet all of Sellafield’s requirements for the design, manufacture and supply of this complex bespoke equipment for the treatment and management of nuclear materials.

Virtual reality simulation will play a key part in delivering the contract. Once the preliminary design is complete, full-scale mock-ups with virtual reality headsets will allow the customer to test out the ergonomics and identify any modifications at the earliest possible stage.

Cavendish Nuclear specialises in the design, manufacture and delivery of services across the nuclear lifecycle and has extensive experience of working across Sellafield, including ongoing work on the design of remote-handling equipment for the product and residues treatment plant.

Cavendish Nuclear will use Babcock’s Rosyth Dockyard, one of the UK’s largest manufacturing facilities, for the project.

Following recent major investment in new workshops, fabrication bays and remote overhead cranes, Rosyth has a proven track record of delivering large-scale complex products, including the containment doors for the pile fuel cladding silo at Sellafield.

Cavendish Nuclear and its partners will be supported by a supply chain located across the UK, bringing together the best of Britain’s nuclear expertise in an integrated team committed to meeting the customer’s demanding specification.

Babcock chief executive Archie Bethel said: “We are delighted that Cavendish Nuclear continues to support Sellafield in the delivery of this strategically important programme. The team will provide the significant manufacturing capacity the project needs, as well as opportunities to share best practice across the UK.”