Official UK procurement notice
Isotope Adjustment System- Thermal Cycling Absorption Process
Authority: UK Fusion Energy Ltd (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUKFE is looking to develop the ability of TCAP within a Fuel Cycle to adjust the isotopic composition of tritium, deuterium and separate protium of continuous mixed isotopic feed within the STEP Fuel Cycle to ensure the delivery of STEP within the 2040s. To support this goal, the fuel cycle will perform a closed loop process: it will inject fuel into the plasma, capture the unspent fuel from the exhaust, purify it, separate and re-inject it within the plasma, ensuring efficient tritium recycling. There are multiple gas separations to be performed within the fuel cycle system, for which testing is required in some areas to support the appropriate selection and design of separation technologies.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
ukfe.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Abingd… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Industrial machinery · Miscellaneous special-purpose machinery · Research and experimental development services · Research, testing and scientific technical simulator
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Fusion Energy Ltd buys Research, testing and scientific technical simulator (CPV 3897), and who usually turns up
UK Fusion Energy Ltd’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Research, testing and scientific technical simulator (CPV 3897) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 36 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid10% / 26%
2–357% / 47%
4–610% / 16%
7+24% / 11%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate30% / 49%
Within ±2%65% / 26%
Above estimate5% / 25%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 3897No real estimate
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 260 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid26%
2–347%
4–616%
7+11%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 7 Jul 2026, 14:56 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Jul 2026, 14:56 BST
- Authority reference
PP-UKFE-163- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-063725- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c565Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Jul 2026 → 2 Sept 2026 · 3 dates- Planning notice published111 days ago7 Jul 2026, 14:56 BST
- Contract starts111 days ago8 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Market engagement54 days ago2 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
To respond to this MEN, please complete and submit Appendix 1: Questionnaire via the facility in the Delta portal by 5pm on 02/09/2026.
Early responses would be appreciated to help inform planning decisions.
If you experience any difficulties with the portal, please contact the portal helpdesk helpdesk@delta-esourcing.com cc operationalprocurement.step@ukifs.uk
Information obtained from responses to Appendix 1: Questionnaire will help UKFE understand current market capabilities and shape the scope, direction, and design of the future procurement activities. If you have any questions about this MEN, please contact UKFE through the Delta portal. We are keen to engage with suppliers to assist with the MEN completion if needed, to ensure quality responses enabling us to shape the future requirement and procurement.
This Notice does not constitute a formal commitment to procure. The Authority reserves the right to cancel, amend, or delay this notice, in whole or part, at any stage, without incurring any liability or obligation to any party
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Jul 2026, 14:56 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender