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Great British Nuclear has published a planned procurement notice for up to two owner’s engineer (OE) contracts worth a combined £600m over up to 14 years for its Small Modular Reactor (SMR) programme.
The winning firms will act as independent technical and delivery advisers across two potential SMR projects, which aim to bring first-of-a-kind nuclear technology into commercial operation in the UK.
They will support GBN’s internal ‘Intelligent Customer’ and ‘Intelligent Client’ functions with oversight, audit, risk and design compliance advice throughout the project lifecycle.
GBN said each OE contract could be worth up to £300m, with the final number of contracts depending on the outcome of its ongoing SMR Technology Partner procurement.
The projects are expected to run for up to 14 years, with indicative contract dates from March 2026 to March 2040.
The OEs will be expected to provide technical support across 36 defined disciplines including commissioning, reactor core physics, cyber security, decommissioning and safety case analysis.
Programme capabilities such as risk, scope and cost management, along with NEC contract expertise, are also mandatory.
The procurement will use the Competitive Flexible Procedure introduced under the Procurement Act 2023.
An initial stage will involve a questionairre assessing legal, financial and technical capabilities, as well as any conflicts of interest. Shortlisted bidders will then be invited to submit full tenders.
GBN said the procurement has been designed to encourage participation from small and medium-sized enterprises, including through joint ventures, consortia and supply chain arrangements.
The notice said that contract values, durations and scope could change before the formal launch of the tender process, expected on 2 June 2025.
The deadline for tender submissions is 19 September 2025, with contracts to be awarded by March 2026.
Source: Gov.uk Find a Tender
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Colin Marrs