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Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System

Nuclear Restoration Services Limited

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

Award

12 Jun 2026 at 08:09

UK5 - Transparency Notice
PlanningUpdate

05 Jun 2026 at 09:08

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

09 Feb 2026 at 10:33

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

23 Jul 2025 at 10:58

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

04 Jun 2025 at 14:27

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Nuclear Restoration Services Limited, based in Warrington, United Kingdom, is overseeing the "Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System" for the Dounreay site. Classified under software support services within the software industry, this contract focuses on ensuring the system's availability, while managing threats to prevent data loss. The procurement process, a direct award, was necessary due to technical reasons outlined in the Procurement Act 2023. The contract, involving a gross value of £2.4 million, is awarded to DataCapture Ltd and spans from 1st November 2026 to 1st November 2029, with potential extensions if certain risks materialise. This award phase follows the planning updates from earlier in 2025 and 2026.

This procurement presents significant business growth opportunities, notably for SMEs specialising in software maintenance, database systems, and system consultancy services. Companies adept in navigating bespoke, business-critical IT environments will find this contract particularly rewarding. The direct award nature signifies the essential need for providers with deep technical knowledge, minimising transition risks and ensuring seamless continuity of operations. Moreover, businesses that can adapt to evolving compliance and security standards stand to gain by providing innovation and enhanced capabilities to facilitate the decommissioning life cycle of the Dounreay site.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System

Notice Description

The Dounreay Data Management System (DMS) is an existing bespoke developed integrated Data Management System which records the consignment, movement, processing and disposal of all solid waste on the Dounreay site ensuring that NRS Dounreay has an audit trail of the verification of waste packages from cradle to grave. The DMS was designed to replace paper-based tracking systems. Data is entered by users or read directly from assay systems, with built-in validation to help reduce the possibility of data entry error. There is a fully integrated approval process including electronic signatures. The scope of this requirement is for the provision of support and maintenance for the NRS Dounreay DMS. This maintenance service must maintain the availability of DMS for the users and ensure that threats and events are proactively managed and mitigated appropriately so there is no detrimental impact to the system and its data. The support service will include: * Availability of a help desk, to log and deal with support calls, with an appropriate Information Technology Service Management (ITSM solution for tracking tickets against agreed Service Level Agreements (SLAs). * Backups of the database. * Repair of defects and issues. * Planned quarterly updates to the servers with the latest stable version of Debian Linux, including security patching. * Un-planned updates as required if critical vulnerabilities have been identified. * Maintenance of all DMS specific related software. * Change management approval and audit trail. * System Upgrades. * Mobilisation and demobilisation for any transition periods required between contracts. Additional to the maintenance of DMS is the requirement for the Consultant to demonstrate the capability to develop and implement new functionality and propose enhanced capabilities to streamline activities which will be scoped and agreed separately under a contract change notice. The DMS is a 'live' system and is reactive to changes that will be carried out throughout the decommissioning life cycle of the Dounreay Site. As operational and compliance processes change the DMS will be required to be modified.

Procurement Information

This a direct award for the purposes of the Procurement Act 2023 and is being made pursuant to Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 (Single Supplier - absence of competition for technical reasons). NRS Dounreay considers that, due to technical reasons, only the incumbent supplier can deliver the required services and that no reasonable alternatives exist. The Dounreay Data Management System (DMS) is a highly bespoke, business-critical system developed and configured specifically to meet NRS Dounreay's operational, safety, and regulatory requirements. The solution incorporates complex integrations with operational plant systems, bespoke data structures, and functionality evolved over a number of years. The incumbent supplier holds unique and irreplaceable technical knowledge of the system architecture, configuration, integrations, and underlying design. This knowledge is not fully documented to a level that would enable a third party to assume delivery without significant additional effort and risk. Any alternative supplier would be required to undertake substantial reverse engineering, knowledge transfer, and revalidation activities to understand and safely operate the system in a live nuclear environment. This would result in: * disproportionate technical and operational risk to the continuity of critical waste management activities; * unacceptable delays to service delivery and ongoing system development; * significant duplication of cost and effort; and * potential impacts on compliance and system assurance. Given the above, the Authority considers that competition is absent for technical reasons and that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists which could deliver the required services within acceptable levels of risk, cost, and time.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-052c78
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055481-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

CPV Codes

48610000 - Database systems

72212100 - Industry specific software development services

72212600 - Database and operating software development services

72212610 - Database software development services

72212781 - System management software development services

72212900 - Miscellaneous software development services and computer systems

72246000 - Systems consultancy services

72250000 - System and support services

72253200 - Systems support services

72261000 - Software support services

72267000 - Software maintenance and repair services

72267100 - Maintenance of information technology software

73220000 - Development consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£2,000,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Jun 20263 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
15 Jun 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Nov 2026 - 1 Nov 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Nuclear Restoration Services Limited
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
WARRINGTON
Postcode
WA3 6GR
Postcode Area
Warrington
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD6 Cheshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD61 Warrington
Delivery Location
TLM61 Caithness and Sutherland, and Ross and Cromarty
Local Authority
Warrington
Electoral Ward
Birchwood
Westminster Constituency
Warrington North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

DataCapture Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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