The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Standardising for decommissioning contracts

17 April 2008

Work to standardise contracts for nuclear clean-up across the NDA’s estate started on April 1, 2008. The Supply Chain Improvements Project has standardised ‘flowdowns’ – which are the terms that the NDA requires its Site Licence Companies (SLCs), to include in their contracts with others.

The project involves NDA, the SLCs and the supply chain through the Nuclear Industry Association. This work is part of an ongoing drive to make the decommissioning market more attractive for the supply chain. The NDA’s Site Licence Companies are at tier 1.

The NDA currently also spends more than 50 per cent of its budget into the market at tier 2 and below. The exceptions to the standardised terms are intellectual property and nuclear indemnity clauses. These will be looked at under phase two of the work.

Sam Dancy, NDA’s Market Development Manager, oversaw the project and said:
“This is an important first step in improving consistency across the NDA portfolio and reducing the perceived barriers to entry. I was particularly pleased at the pro-active manner in which the supply chain and SLCs worked together.”

Peter Ritson, UKAEA’s Head of Contracts who is leading the work, said:
“It can be very confusing to the market when faced with different sets of conditions. We reviewed the terms and conditions from two aspects. Firstly, we agreed to use New Engineering Contract standard conditions to use as the base format to contract from.

“Secondly we have standardised the NDA flowdowns, which are requirements falling out of the SLC management and operation contracts. From April, contractors will see the same format and flowdowns across the Magnox, UKAEA and Sellafield sites when they are asked to carry out project work. This will save the industry time in tendering for decommissioning work.”

Dave Millington of NUKEM Limited, who represented the NIA and supply chain, added:
"This is a very positive step toward a consistent approach within the NDA fleet. It was a worthwhile project that should help to reduce the time and effort expended by contractors in assessing the terms and conditions proposed for each project."