---
title: "Manipulator Maintenance"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Sellafield Ltd"
published: "2026-09-15"
---

# Manipulator Maintenance

Buyer: Sellafield Ltd  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19

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## Summary

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.

## Notice

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.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087404-2026 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 15 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 28 Jul 2026 |
| Contract period | 1 Oct 2026 - 31 Mar 2031 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £4,660,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Sellafield Ltd |
| Locality | WARRINGTON |
| Postcode area | 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 | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | CORE Nuclear Solutions Ltd |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

### Codes

- 71300000 - Engineering services

## Release History

- 15 Sep 2026 at 15:19 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087404-2026
- 27 Aug 2026 at 08:11 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081560-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087404-2026
  15th September 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081560-2026
  27th August 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/sellafield-ltd
- 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-06ed19. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ed19.json.