Press releases

Atkins appointed to UAE nuclear new build role - 16 November 2011

Atkins has been appointed to act as lender's technical adviser for the United Arab Emirates' peaceful nuclear energy programme.

Atkins will be responsible for providing an independent technical assessment of the programme which will deliver four new reactors under the leadership of the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). Atkins' advice will inform the investment decision of the private lenders - a combination of Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) and commercial banks.

Martin Grant, managing director of Atkins' Energy business, said: "This contract is a significant step forward in the internationalisation of our nuclear business and marks progress towards our overall strategy to expand the Atkins Energy business into a truly worldwide service provider."

Atkins has been contracted for the construction period of the four APR-1400 reactors procured from the South Korean consortium led by the Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) in 2009. Until the reactors become operational (final schedules are dependent upon regulatory reviews and approvals), the company will monitor and report on construction and commissioning activities. Atkins will establish a core team of experts in Abu Dhabi which will have the ability to draw on its specialists worldwide.

Dominic Jermey, HM Ambassador to the UAE, added: "It is tremendous to see Atkins bringing the best of UK expertise in nuclear to the UAE new build programme. Atkins' involvement from these early stages will foster even more sharing of knowledge and best practice between the UK and Middle East over the long term - an important component in finding the solutions to the growing demand for energy in this region."

As part of the architect engineer consortium, Atkins is already providing full multidisciplinary design services for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in France and continues to support the UK new build programme with work for EDF and Horizon.

Ends

For more information:

Imogen Parker

Head of Communications, Energy 

+44 7834 507 596 

Imogen.Parker@atkinsglobal.com

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Notes to editors:

Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is one of the world's leading engineering and design consultancies*, employing some 17,700 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe. It has the breadth and depth of expertise to plan, design and enable some of the world's most technically challenging and time critical infrastructure projects.

*It is the largest engineering consultancy in the UK (New Civil Engineer Consultants File 2011) and the 13th largest global design firm (Engineering News-Record 2011).

Recent nuclear projects include:

  • Provision of full multidisciplinary design services as architect engineer for the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project in France;

  • Delivery of engineering services across the UK's Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) estate including the decommissioning of the first generation Magnox storage pond at Sellafield, one of the highest hazard facilities in the NDA estate;

  • Atkins has played a key role for EDF Energy in providing the solution to returning the Heysham A and Hartlepool nuclear power stations back to power following problems with the boiler closure units on those stations;

  • A siting study for DECC to screen alternative locations of new nuclear plants;

  • Atkins has trained more than 550 engineers over the past two years in its Nuclear Training Academy and is currently supporting the new Nuclear Energy course at the University of Cambridge to educate the nuclear industry leaders of the future.

Other recent projects include:

  • Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines in the UAE;

  • Key rail projects - providing architectural and engineering design services on Crossrail, Europe's biggest civil engineering project in London, UK, and designing stations, tunnelling and track systems for Gautrain, South Africa's first high speed line;

  • Renewable energy schemes - transformer platform design for the Thanet offshore wind park in the UK's North Sea;

  • Multi-year architecture-engineering construction management services for the US National Park Service, including projects such as rehabilitation of the Furnace Creek Visitor Center and Administrative Complex at California's Death Valley to meet the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification standards;

  • High profile transport planning and urban design - our innovative scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at Oxford Circus in London, UK, has helped tackle the problem of pedestrian crowding;

  • Water and environmental projects - critical programme management of storm protection works in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana in North America, providing expertise in coastal restoration, engineering, environmental and GIS support to rebuild defenses and protect habitats;

  • Multidisciplinary building design - Northwood Primary School in Darlington, UK, is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement.

Atkins was named among The Sunday Times 25 Best Big Companies to Work For 2011, won Consultancy of the Year in the CIBSE Low Carbon Performance Awards 2010, received the first ever certification of the Carbon Trust Standard awarded to an engineering consultancy in the construction sector, and was included in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women 2011 and The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2010. Atkins was also construction and civil engineering sector winner for the fifth consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2010 and was awarded a RoSPA Gold Award 2011 for excellence in control of health and safety in the workplace.

Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.   

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