Find a TenderAwarded
Published 20 May 2021, 16:25 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Campus for Advanced Nuclear Skills and Innovation: Pilot Programme

Official notice

Authority: Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (Central government)

ServicesNegotiated without publication of a contract notice
Sectors: Research & Development (R&D) (73) Delivery: UK
Awarded value£2,045,000published contract · exc. VAT
Awarded 10 May 2021
Awarded to National Nuclear Laboratory

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) intends to appoint the National Nuclear Laboratory for The Advanced Nuclear Campus Pilot Programme, that will establish a 9 month pilot for an advanced nuclear skills and innovation campus. The Pilot will:

•demonstrate how collaborative Innovation and Research projects can be successfully carried out on a civil Nuclear Licensed Site, and how best to remove barriers and facilitate access to those sites;

•demonstrate and evaluate different approaches to providing skills, training, and experience on a civil Nuclear Licensed Site, for a range of ages and educational backgrounds;

•establish the scope and specification of future Campuses, including, location considerations, access arrangements and infrastructure requirements; and

•develop robust evidence base and propose suitable delivery models and funding levels for full-scale Campuses and identifying what level of user demand exists across the sector.

CPV: Research and development services and related consultancy services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1The core requirement for the pilot project is to trial approaches or arrangements for…

The core requirement for the pilot project is to trial approaches or arrangements for overcoming the barrier to technology development in a nuclear environment; in other words, the pilot will identify how best to provide reasonable site access to the wider market. This requirement means that a delivery partner must have ready access to R&D facilities on a civil nuclear licensed site from the start of the 9-month programme (i.e. from June 2021). Only NNL have access to extensive R&D facilities on a nuclear licensed site, and thus can provide the services required by this procurement.

Our initial estimated budget of £1.745m has moved to a £2.045m finalised budget, after continued development of project requirements and scoping of costs, since the market engagement and related PIN. Additional information: Our initial estimated budget of £1.745m has moved to a £2.045m finalised budget, after continued development of project requirements and scoping of costs, since the market engagement and related PIN.

Delivery: UK · UNITED KINGDOM

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record · publisher note attached
Procedure method
Negotiated without publication of a contract notice
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Awarded
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Yes (GPA)
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
20 May 2021, 16:25 BST
Last source update
20 May 2021, 16:25 BST
FTS notice number
2021/S 000-011249
Classification (CPV)
Research and development services and related consultancy services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02b363 Find a Tender
Why no open competition

The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons

Published justification

The NNL is a Government-owned body (the Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is the sole shareholder) and as such has a remit to support Government in nuclear technical matters.

For this pilot programme, market engagement was held with industry organisations, academia and consultancies to determine the viability of a competitive procurement procedure. Feedback gathered has caused BEIS to discount a competition as a viable route for the campus pilot. This is based on the following factors:

  • It is not feasible currently to provide the wider market with fair and reasonable access to R&D facilities on a civil nuclear licensed site, therefore a fair competition cannot be held.
  • Any potential competitive option would require complex consortia structures, which go against the pilot objectives - all consortia partners would need to partner with a site licencee or enter into lengthy new site licence negotiations with the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR). The pilot is not intended to trial and assess the delivery partner, but instead trial the process, learning and outcomes of pilot projects and training enabled by the delivery partner.
  • Only a single organisation (NNL) currently have access to extensive R&D facilities on a nuclear licensed site.

The core requirement for the pilot project is to trial approaches or arrangements for overcoming the barrier to technology development in a nuclear environment; in other words, the pilot will identify how best to provide reasonable site access to the wider market. This requirement means that a delivery partner must have ready access to R&D facilities on a civil licensed site from the start of the 9-month programme (i.e. from June 2021). As mentioned, only a single organisation (NNL) already having access to extensive R&D facilities on a nuclear licensed site and can currently offer this service.

Whilst the single source route is appropriate for this pilot, it is vital to create an environment where a fair and open competition is possible for future campus phases. Any future open competition is predicated on the pilot not giving any unfair advantage to the delivery partner or licensed site. During this pilot programme NNL must look toward the next phase and the importance of opening up the market. Opening up the market requires:

  • Future Multiple Site Options – NNL will be tasked with identifying future campus location(s), the benefits they could bring and the necessary interventions to enable them to do so.
  • Future Multiple Delivery Partners – NNL will be tasked with identifying effective processes and opportunities for organisations to become tenants on nuclear licensed sites, along with associated challenges and requirements.
  • Industrial Innovation. NNL will be tasked with identifying campus features (working model and timelines) to enable campus innovation from the market and drive toward Value for Money (ROI) with the Research and Development conducted.

Publisher note: To view this notice, please click here: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=594087836 GO Reference: GO-2021520-PRO-18270858

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £2,045,0001 contract exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 10 May 2021
Awarded toValueDateStatus
National Nuclear Laboratory£2,045,000 †—Awarded

Contracts

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)

Contracting authorityCentral GovernmentMinistry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisionsGeneral public services 1 Victoria Street, London, UK, SW1H 0ETContact email, phone

Dispute resolution & review bodies

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.