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Manipulator Maintenance

Sellafield Ltd

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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27 Aug 2026 at 08:11

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Sellafield Limited procured sitewide maintenance services for robotic manipulators used in its high-level waste plants. The requirement covers engineering support for manipulator equipment across the Sellafield site, including annual maintenance outages, breakdown support, operator training, operational health checks and spare-parts management. The work supports the ongoing management and reprocessing of high-level waste. This is a specialist nuclear engineering and equipment-maintenance requirement rather than general facilities maintenance. The buyer is Sellafield Limited, a public authority based in Warrington, and delivery is at its Sellafield site in Cumbria. The procurement covers one requirement rather than a range of separately described work packages. The associated engineering-services classification is CPV 71300000.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award to Core Nuclear Solutions. Sellafield Limited relied on the supplier’s intellectual property rights in the robotic manipulator arms, stating that no other supplier could provide the required maintenance or spare parts without access to that intellectual property. The award is above the relevant threshold and has a gross value of £4,660,000. The award date was 27 August 2026. The contract period is 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2031, with signature scheduled for 1 October 2026. The single lot was suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, although the direct-award route and exclusive intellectual-property position determined the outcome rather than a competitive evaluation.

This award demonstrates sustained demand from Sellafield for specialist maintenance of robotic manipulators supporting high-level waste operations. A credible future competitor would need demonstrable nuclear-sector engineering capability, experience maintaining complex robotic or remote-handling equipment, and the capacity to provide planned outage maintenance alongside responsive breakdown support. Competence in operator training, equipment health checking and spare-parts control would also be important. The requirement shows that technical access to the equipment’s intellectual property is commercially decisive: suppliers without the relevant rights, licensing arrangements or a viable relationship with the equipment owner would be poorly placed to compete. Businesses with proprietary manipulator technology, authorised maintenance rights or specialist nuclear remote-handling expertise may therefore be best positioned when Sellafield next requires this service.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Manipulator Maintenance

Notice Description

Sitewide manipulator maintenance

Procurement Information

The robotic manipulators are essential to the reprocessing of High Level Waste at Sellafield's high-level waste plants onsite. This equipment will be required to support ongoing high-level waste management. The scope of this contract will be for the annual maintenance outage of manipulator equipment, breakdown support, operator training, operational health checks and the management of spare parts. The incumbent supplier owns the intellectual property rights ("IPR") to the manipulator arms, and that any maintenance or spare parts for the same could not be provided without access to, and use of, such IPR. As such, Core Nuclear Solutions are the only supplier that can supply the goods and perform the services required. Therefore, pursuant to Schedule 5, paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, Sellafield may award a contract directly in accordance with section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081560-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
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
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

CPV Codes

71300000 - Engineering services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£4,660,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
27 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 31 Mar 2031 4-5 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
Sellafield Ltd
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Warrington
Electoral Ward
Birchwood
Westminster Constituency
Warrington North

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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