Six rivals chase £110m north west nuclear scheme

Six rivals have picked up the tender paperwork for a £110m high-profile nuclear energy project in the North West which is set to create hundreds of construction jobs in the region.

The prize is the construction of a box encapsulation plant at the west Cumbrian seaside village of Seascale.

The line-up for the project features three groups and three solo bidders.

Costain is in joint venture with Sir Robert McAlpine in the first group which also has local contractor Jordan Nuclear on board, as well as mechanical and electrical specialist Balfour Kilpatrick.

Next up, Laing O'Rourke is in joint venture with Scott Wilson, while Birse is in tandem with engineering support services organisation, VT Group.

The list is completed by lone raiders Amec, Babcock Nuclear and Vinci, which has Norwest Holst under its umbrella.

The contract will be awarded next year, with work on site expected to start in 2011 and take around five years to complete.

But the first job the winning contractor will have to tackle will be to give precise start and finish dates.

An insider said: "Britsh Nuclear Group Sellafield and Amec formed an alliance a few years ago when they tackled the construction of a new engineered drums store at Sellafield.

"But whether that will have any bearing on the eventual result of the bidding contest is hard to say.

"What is certain, of course, is that Balfour Beatty will have two bites of the cherry, with its companies Balfour Kilpatrick and Birse in the chase."