A Cumbrian collaboration has secured contracts worth up to £10m to produce waste containers for Sellafield.

The Cumbria Manufacturing Alliance (CMA) has won two contracts to supply 3m³ boxes to Sellafield over the next four years, helping to accelerate waste retrievals on the site.

Gareth Frazer, Sellafield Ltd’s Head of Manufacturing and Engineering Solutions said: “This contract is great news for Sellafield, as this work is a key enabler for accelerating retrievals, and for two companies in Cumbria, who will be creating opportunities for upskilling and development of people.

“It will also build on supply chain capability and capacity in manufactured products for nuclear decommissioning in our region.

“As the BEP project progresses, the first 3m³ boxes will be used to complete vital commissioning work including testing performance of the plant and support pre-loading the facility with empty containers before the plant goes active in 2027.

“When BEP is operational, it will unlock the capacity to process much higher rates of retrievals from our legacy silos and ponds, reducing the risk of some of our most hazardous facilities.”

The Alliance includes Bendalls Engineering from Carlisle and West Cumberland Engineering from Workington, plus other partners.

The work will deliver the first 60 legacy box assemblies to support the Box Encapsulation Plant’s (BEP) active commissioning phase.

The boxes will be fabricated from stainless steel and designed to remotely handle intermediate level waste being retrieved from Sellafield’s legacy ponds.

The initial phase will be to complete box design for manufacture before moving into box production, with the first six-off assemblies planned to be delivered by Autumn 2026.