Great British Energy - Nuclear (GBE-N) has awarded a long-term Owner's Engineer contract worth up to £360 million to a joint team from Amentum Clean Energy and Cavendish Nuclear, giving the state-owned developer independent technical oversight of the UK's small modular reactor programme through to 2040.
14-Year Deal, Up To £360M Including VAT
The deal runs for 14 years from April 23, 2026 to April 23, 2040, with a headline value of up to £300 million and a total ceiling of £360 million including VAT. The Owner's Engineer will provide specification, audit, review and advice across design, scope, budgets, risk, delivery and contract compliance – essentially acting as GBE-N's in-house technical brain while contractors and reactor vendors do the physical build.
Sitting Alongside The £1.08B Delivery Partner Tender
The Amentum-Cavendish award runs in parallel with the £1.08 billion delivery partner tender GBE-N opened earlier this month, which is scoped to run through 2046. Together the two procurements form the operational backbone of the state entity now charged with delivering the UK's fleet of small modular reactors.
Amentum And Cavendish Bring Deep Nuclear Muscle
Amentum, spun out of the former AECOM Management Services business, is one of the world's largest nuclear engineering services groups, with decommissioning work across Sellafield and the US DOE complex. Cavendish Nuclear, the nuclear arm of Babcock International, has been the UK's dominant Tier 1 nuclear services provider for decades. The tie-up gives GBE-N a UK-anchored oversight team credible with both regulators and reactor OEMs including Rolls-Royce SMR, which was selected in the UK SMR downselect.
Building Out State Nuclear Capacity
The award is a further sign that GBE-N is moving quickly from formation to delivery, with the body now central to a UK energy strategy that mixes SMRs with expanded gigawatt-scale nuclear and offshore wind, a mix that also features in recent renewable partnerships.
Reporting based on coverage from Nuclear News and Great British Energy - Nuclear announcements.