EC Harris eyes nuclear jobs

The firm plans to set up an academy to train staff for nuclear work and form alliances with competitors to bid for contracts.

The news came as the government's energy review, believed to be a prelude to an expansion of the UK's nuclear capacity, kicked off its period of public consultation this week.

EC Harris' rival Franklin + Andrews told QS News last week that it was gearing up to win anticipated nuclear contracts, including new builds in the UK.

It has won the contract consulting role on the construction of Europe's first nuclear new build for 10 years, a £2bn plant in Finland.

Mark Howard, head of nuclear at EC Harris, said he was looking for a slice of the £56bn of nuclear clean-up work coming online in the UK and said home-grown new build work would also be up for grabs "sooner than people think".

Mark Gudgeon, head of energy at F+ A, said nuclear new builds in the UK would not happen for 10 years.

But Howard said: "If we want to get on with it, we need to start on the pre-works, such as outline business cases and early designs, very soon."

No one knows yet what the vehicles will be for the financing of the work

Mark Howard, head of nuclear, EC Harris

He added that EC Harris was talking to contractors and design firms about the possibility of forming alliances to bid for work. "No one knows yet what the vehicles will be for the financing of the work, and that will determine how the procurement happens."

EC Harris is bidding for nuclear contracts in the UK and has been short-listed for a major project, Howard said. The firm has around 50 staff in its nuclear team and would add staff from other departments and outside the company if it wins the work.

The nuclear sector currently makes a contribution to EC Harris' turnover "in the millions", Howard said.

EC Harris' nuclear experience includes helping British Nuclear Group to develop a standard estimating method and a standard of best practice for all works, from projects to maintenance.

The UK Atomic Energy Authority recently formed an alliance with Amec and consultant CH2M Hill to bid for the £56bn of nuclear clean-up contracts emerging.

The alliance will initially target several of the UK's 20 civil nuclear sites, which have been opened up to competition by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. Around half of these are expected to have bids for them by 2008.