Company signs €4m maintenance contract

AMEC Foster Wheeler – which employs 1,200 people at its Birchwood, Warrington and Knutsford offices –  has signed a framework contract to supply maintenance and remote handling services to ITER, the world’s largest nuclear fusion research project.
Securing the deal further strengthens the company’s role at ITER, a 35-nation project to build a tokamak, or  experimental fusion reactor, in the South of France.
Greg Willetts, vice president for consultancy at Amec Foster Wheeler’s Clean Energy business, said: “This contract win represents another step forward in our aspiration to play a major role across the ITER project.
“It underlines our leading expertise in nuclear remote handling and robotics and highlights the key role we are playing in developing future nuclear technologies while continuing to support the existing nuclear fission power industry.”
The purpose of the framework contract, expected to be worth up to €4m over four years, is to provide engineering support based on experience of nuclear installation in-service inspection for developing the maintainability and inspectability of the ITER structures, systems, and components during their design.
The scope will cover critical complex areas such as the hot cell, where irradiated components are dismantled and treated, and the Cryostat, at 3,850 tonnes the second largest high-vacuum pressure chamber ever built. Amec Foster Wheeler will also carry out work to analyse reliability, control costs, carry out virtual and physical mock-ups to test procedures, and produce maintenance documentation.
In May 2015, a joint venture led by Amec Foster Wheeler won a €70m, seven-year contract to carry out all activities ranging from design, manufacturing, factory testing, delivery, on-site integration, commissioning and final acceptance tests for ITER’s neutral beam remote handling system.