Mott MacDonald awarded places on UK nuclear regulator framework

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has appointed Mott MacDonald as a tier one contractor for civil engineering and external hazards on its newly revised technical services framework.

The firm has also been appointed as a tier two contractor for control and instrumentation, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, human factors, internal hazards, safety cases, probabilistic safety analysis, radiological protection, radioactive waste management and decommissioning, structural integrity, protective security and cyber security.

The four-year framework, effective from November 2022, will provide ONR with the means to procure technical services and research to support its capacity, in light of growing regulatory demands. ONR independently regulates nuclear safety and security at 36 nuclear sites in the UK and also assesses new nuclear designs in accordance with the high level of standards for safety, security and environmental protection required in the UK.

The UK Government recently announced its intention to bolster nuclear capacity to 24 gigawatts of electricity by 2050, which would include up to 50 small modular reactors.

“The nuclear industry is going through a period of rapid change and we’re proud to be able to support ONR in its vitally important role as new nuclear facilities are brought online,” said Dr Ming Tan, technical principal, Mott MacDonald.

He continued: “The appointment builds on our recent work providing specialist support to several new nuclear build projects at generic design assessment and site-specific stages, including UK HPR1000, the UK advanced boiling water reactor and Hinkley Point C.”