UK-based Metalcraft has won a contract worth up to £47 million to provide high-integrity stainless steel storage containers for the Sellafield nuclear site.
Stainless Metalcraft is one of two manufacturers that will equally share the contract. An announcement on the second contract is expected soon.
For Metalcraft, phase one of the project covers the set up and development of a production facility that will produce 1100 boxes during phase two of the project, which will run over the next 10 years.
The three metre cube boxes will provide a safe and secure storage solution for intermediate level waste that is to be retrieved from the historic Pile Fuel Cladding Silo at the site.
Sellafield Ltd said that the initial stage will prove volume production can be achieved to the required quality and throughput rate, and then steady state volume production will manufacture the bulk of the boxes.
Metalcraft has also committed to a new facility in West Cumbria for the finishing of boxes for the Phase 2 contract, subject to successful sanction to proceed. It also estimates there will be follow-on contracts for many more containers over the coming years to meet the demands of Sellafield’s decommissioning programme.
Sellafield Ltd. commercial director Robert Astall explained: "Part of the decision-making process to choose Metalcraft was their commitment to deliver a socio-economic package that includes a commitment to new jobs, apprenticeships and training development to advance the capability of manufacturing skills."
