Dounreay Materials Test Reactor (DMTR) Strategy Development Support

Direct Award Justification under Section 41 and Schedule 5 Paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.

Proposed Supplier: Orano Limited

This direct award is justified under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 and specifically Schedule 5, Paragraph 5, which permits a direct award where:

"(a) due to a particular supplier having

intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required; and

(b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works."

Orano Limited is the owner of LEOPARD- Programme, Cost and Resource modelling software and the associated methodologies, data structures, calculation engines and analytical processes that underpin its operation which has been used previously by the Contracting Authority.

The services required under this Contract are not generic consultancy services that could be delivered independently of the software. NRS Dounreay requires analysis and modelling that is specifically generated through the LEOPARD software and its functionality to ensure the commonality.

As LEOPARD is exclusively controlled by Orano Limited, no other supplier possesses the legal rights to deploy the software for the purpose of delivering the required modelling services. This satisfies the requirement in Schedule 5 Paragraph 5(a) that only one supplier can supply

the services because of intellectual property or exclusive rights.

NRS Dounreay has considered whether reasonable alternative suppliers or solutions exist and has concluded that none

are available. Whilst other suppliers may possess different scheduling or cost modelling tools, such alternatives would not constitute a reasonable substitute because:

Results would not be directly comparable with existing LEOPARD models and datasets previously provided by Orano during the life of the previous contract;

It will create a material risk of inconsistency in assumptions, methodologies and outputs.

Migration to an alternative platform would require significant redevelopment, including reconstruction of established models, data structures, assumptions and validation processes.

Alternative software would not replicate LEOPARD's proprietary algorithms, modelling architecture and decommissioning-specific functionality. As a result, NRS Dounreay considers that no reasonable alternative exists that would meet the operational requirement. This satisfies the requirement in Schedule 5 Paragraph 5(b).

A direct award to Orano Limited is considered

compliant with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023.