Graham has been appointed to a £67m project at the UK’s low-level nuclear waste site in Cumbria.
The contractor has been chosen by publicly-owned Nuclear Waste Services to install a replacement engineered interim trench cap over the Southern Trenches at the UK’s low-level waste repository (LLWR).
The LLWR receives low level nuclear waste from customers across the nuclear, education, medical and research sectors, as well as the Ministry of Defence.
The waste typically comprises paper, cardboard, plastic, protective clothing, soil, rubble and metal and arrives in large metal containers. The waste is grouted in containers before being disposed of in engineered concrete vaults at the site.
Graham will provide labour, equipment, materials, project management and supervision for the installation of the temporary cap. Contractors’ cabins are set to be delivered to site later this year, with physical works starting in February 2025 and lasting for four years.
Nuclear Waste Services said it expected the work to cost £53m when it published a tender last October However, a contract notice published this week stated the work will cost up to £67m.
Graham has already carried out an £8m enabling works package for the project, building construction compounds, haul roads, material stockpile areas and drainage lagoons at the site. It was appointed to this work in 2019, after being picked on the LLWR engineering and construction framework in 2014.
In a newsletter for local residents sent by Nuclear Waste Services last month, the agency said Graham “has worked on our repository site many times before, and not only are the team hard- working, reliable and trustworthy, they also understand the importance of respecting you – our local community – when completing their work”.
The body added: “We have high expectations from our contractors and wider supply chain and are pleased to have full confidence in the team’s commitment to being certified Considerate Constructors.”
