---
title: "Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-052c78"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052c78"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052c78.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052c78.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NUCLEAR RESTORATION SERVICES LIMITED"
published: "2026-06-12"
---

# Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System

Buyer: NUCLEAR RESTORATION SERVICES LIMITED  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-052c78

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## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055481-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Planning, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Jun 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 15 Jun 2026 |
| Award date | 12 Jun 2026 |
| Contract period | 1 Nov 2026 - 1 Nov 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £2,000,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £2,000,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NUCLEAR RESTORATION SERVICES LIMITED |
| Locality | WARRINGTON |
| Post town | Warrington |
| Postcode | WA3 6GR |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLD6 Cheshire |
| ITL 3 | TLD61 Warrington |
| Local authority | Warrington |
| Electoral ward | Birchwood |
| Westminster constituency | Warrington North |
| Delivery location | TLM61 Caithness and Sutherland, and Ross and Cromarty |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | DATACAPTURE |

## CPV Codes

### 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

### 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

## Release History

- 12 Jun 2026 at 07:09 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055481-2026
- 5 Jun 2026 at 08:08 - PlanningUpdate - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053117-2026
- 9 Feb 2026 at 10:33 - PlanningUpdate - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011272-2026
- 23 Jul 2025 at 09:58 - PlanningUpdate - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/042288-2025
- 4 Jun 2025 at 13:27 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029909-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/055481-2026
  12th June 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/053117-2026
  5th June 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011272-2026
  9th February 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/042288-2025
  23rd July 2025 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029909-2025
  4th June 2025 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/nuclear-restoration-services
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-052c78. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-052c78.json.