---
title: "Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "UK ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY"
published: "2025-12-22"
---

# Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project

Buyer: UK ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc

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## Summary

The UK Atomic Energy Authority, based in Oxfordshire, recently completed an open procurement process titled "Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project." This procurement falls under the goods category and involved the acquisition of liquid scintillation counters necessary for tritium accountancy and handling, which are essential for fusion energy research. The contract, awarded to Southern Scientific Ltd., commenced on 22nd December 2025 and is scheduled to conclude on 31st March 2026. The total award value is £850,344. The procurement process was conducted through an open procedure, with the final contract notice published on 22nd December 2025.

This tender presents growth opportunities for businesses specialising in scientific instrumentation and those that can supply advanced analytical technologies. Firms with capabilities in producing or providing auxiliary services for equipment involved in tritium handling, processing, and analysis, especially those focusing on fusion energy technologies, will find this project aligns well with their expertise. The open procurement method fosters a competitive environment, encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises within the UK offering state-of-the-art solutions to engage and fulfil the advanced technical and commercial requirements stipulated in the project.

## Notice

A. Lot 1- THALIA Project The THALIA Project serves as the parent initiative with the primary goal of testing and validating analytical work-up methods and instrumentation for tritium accountancy in molten breeder material matrices. The THALIA workstream will be structured into dedicated functional areas, each designed to support specific activities: * Molten breeder handling area - for heating and maintaining breeder material in a molten state, equipped with a purpose-built tritium introduction system to accurately dose and generate tritiated breeder material samples at required concentrations. * Preparation area - for weighing and formulating molten breeder materials, including dosing with impurities where required. * Sample collection and cooling area - for safe collection and solidification of samples. * Sample analysis preparation area - for wet chemistry sample preparation and sample darkening, following methodologies developed under the ERATO Project. * Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) analysis - following preparation into a suitable LSC cocktail, samples will be analysed using LSC instrumentation. The LIBRTI programme is a central component of UKAEA's fusion energy mission, specifically focusing on the safe and effective handling, storage, and processing of tritium--a critical fuel for fusion reactors. B. Lot 2 - LIBRTI Facility Project The LIBRTI Facility Project aims to establish Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) capabilities through collaboration with partner organisations, enabling the training of future personnel working at the neutron facility. This capability underpins tritium breeding research, including the analysis of purge gases and breeder materials such as solid, liquid, and molten salts. A sample oxidizer will be required for preparing solid samples that cannot be directly processed for LSC analysis. Following oxidation and preparation into a suitable LSC cocktail, samples will be analysed via LSC instrumentation.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085214-2025 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 22 Dec 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 19 Nov 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 3 Dec 2025 |
| Contract period | 22 Dec 2025 - 31 Mar 2026 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £540,000 |
| Lots value | £540,000 |
| Awards value | £708,620 |
| Contracts value | £708,620 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | UK ATOMIC ENERGY AUTHORITY |
| Locality | OXFORDSHIRE |
| Post town | Oxford |
| Postcode | OX14 3DB |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLJ14 Oxfordshire CC |
| Local authority | South Oxfordshire |
| Electoral ward | Sandford & the Wittenhams |
| Westminster constituency | Didcot and Wantage |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | SOUTHERN SCIENTIFIC |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 38 - Laboratory, optical and precision equipments (excl. glasses)

### Codes

- 38942000 - Alpha beta counters
- 38943000 - Beta counters
- 38944000 - Beta gamma counters

## Release History

- 22 Dec 2025 at 09:05 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085214-2025
- 3 Dec 2025 at 16:53 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079495-2025
- 28 Oct 2025 at 10:55 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068852-2025
- 23 Oct 2025 at 15:30 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/067950-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085214-2025
  22nd December 2025 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079495-2025
  3rd December 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/068852-2025
  28th October 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/067950-2025
  23rd October 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp?PID=99302&B=
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/uk-atomic-energy-authority
- 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-05d2cc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc.json.