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Manipulator Maintenance

Sellafield Ltd

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

15 Sep 2026 at 15:19

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

27 Aug 2026 at 08:11

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Sellafield Limited procured engineering services for maintenance of manipulator equipment used in its high-level waste plants. The scope covers the annual maintenance outage, breakdown support, operator training, operational health checks and management of spare parts. The requirement supports ongoing high-level waste reprocessing and management at Sellafield’s site. The service category is engineering services (CPV 71300000). The work is specialised nuclear engineering and equipment support rather than general facilities maintenance. It is relevant to businesses with expertise in robotic or manipulator systems, nuclear-site maintenance, plant outage support, technical training and spare-parts management. The buyer is Sellafield Limited, based in Warrington, with the operational requirement delivered at its Sellafield facilities.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award to Core Nuclear Solutions Ltd. Sellafield justified the route on the basis that the supplier owns the intellectual property rights for the manipulator arms, and that the required maintenance and spare parts could not be provided without access to those rights. The award was made under Schedule 5, paragraph 5 and section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023. One lot was awarded. The award date was 28 July 2026, for £4,660,000 gross. The contract period runs from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2031, with signature scheduled for 1 October 2026. The award is active and the named supplier is Core Nuclear Solutions Ltd.

This award demonstrates sustained demand at Sellafield for specialist manipulator maintenance supporting high-level waste operations. A future competitor would need credible capability in maintaining and fault-finding robotic manipulator equipment in a nuclear environment, including planned outage work, emergency breakdown response, operational health checks and controlled spare-parts management. Experience delivering technical training to operators would also be relevant. The procurement shows that intellectual property ownership and access rights can determine whether a supplier is capable of performing the requirement, so businesses would need to hold, licence or otherwise lawfully access the relevant manipulator designs and technical information. Suppliers would also need the organisational capacity, safety culture and engineering discipline to support essential plant equipment over a multi-year service requirement at Sellafield.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Manipulator Maintenance

Notice Description

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.

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/087404-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

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
15 Sep 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
28 Jul 20261 months 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
Active
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

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

CORE Nuclear Solutions Ltd

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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