Sellafield Ltd has awarded the Morgan Sindall and Arup joint venture an extension of the Infrastructure Strategic Alliance (ISA) contract for a further five years.

The ISA is one of a number of long-term strategic supply agreements aligned to the Sellafield Ltd acquisition strategy. Awarded to Morgan Sindall and Arup in a joint venture in 2012, the ISA is responsible for a £1.1 billion contract to provide essential infrastructure assets to the Sellafield site.

This is the first renewal of a contract that has the potential for further extension periods, subject to performance, up to a total life of 15 years.

The ISA contract provides Sellafield Ltd with the capability and capacity to deliver a growing programme of infrastructure projects required for an aging asset portfolio. The contract is primarily aimed at utility assets, such as the on-site provision and distribution of steam, electricity, water supply and compressed air, bulk chemical storage and distribution, civil infrastructure, the site’s drainage networks and other facilities including roads, bridges, car parks and general buildings (such as canteens and laundry facilities). It also includes some non-utility assets such as analytical services facilities, transport systems, flask maintenance plant and emergency management systems.

Alongside the delivery of key infrastructure projects to the Sellafield site, the ISA contract has placed a great emphasis on socio-economic contributions across Cumbria. Throughout the duration of the contract, the ISA delivery partners have invested in local employment, skills development and apprenticeships. Currently over 12% of the ISA workforce are graduates, apprentices or trainees.

Through the Creating Careers in Cumbria programme, the ISA delivery partners have given twenty previously unemployed local people the chance to gain full time employment. The programme focuses on providing work experience and employment skills for long-term unemployed local people. The scheme has an 80.5% success rate, which reflects the ISA delivery partners’ commitment to the people of Cumbria.

Simon Smith, Morgan Sindall Arup joint venture board member said: “The extension of the ISA contract builds on our commitment to deliver the most complex and challenging infrastructure projects for our customer. The alliance is not only a key vehicle for delivering infrastructure improvements on site at Sellafield; it is also driving wider socio-economic benefit across Cumbria. Through a combination of our leading construction and innovative design knowledge, we will continue to develop a strong programme of work to tackle the unique challenges at Sellafield.”