Official UK procurement notice
Decommissioning of Cyclotron Vault
Authority: Cardiff University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis notice is issued to inform the market of pre-market engagement activity in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
Cardiff University intends to undertake a procurement for the decommissioning of a cyclotron vault facility located within Cardiff.
The purpose of this pre-market engagement is to inform the development of the procurement strategy, specification, and evaluation criteria by engaging with organisations that have relevant expertise and capability in delivering such works.
This engagement will support the Authority in understanding market capacity, delivery models, technical approaches, and key risks associated with the requirement.
This notice does not constitute a call for competition or a commitment to enter into a contract.
Background:
Cardiff University houses a cyclotron used in the production of medical radioisotopes for research and clinical applications.
The University is progressing plans to decommission the existing cyclotron installation and associated infrastructure. This will include:
- Removal of the cyclotron and associated systems
- Decommissioning of activated components of the cyclotron
- Removal of activated structural elements within the vault
The cyclotron vault is a heavily shielded structure designed to contain ionising radiation generated during operation. As part of its original design, internal wall structures were constructed as sacrificial layers, intended to absorb radiation during operation and facilitate their removal at end of life.
These sacrificial walls will require controlled removal and appropriate disposal as part of the decommissioning process. The works will therefore include the removal of activated walls within the vault, alongside the removal of the cyclotron and associated activated components.
These works represent a specialist radiological decommissioning project requiring appropriate expertise in radiation safety, dismantling, structural removal, and compliant handling and disposal of activated materials.
Scope of Pre-Market Engagement :
The University is seeking expressions of interest from organisations with experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Radiological decommissioning of specialist facilities
- Cyclotron or medical isotope production facility decommissioning
- Removal and disposal of activated materials, including structural elements
- Nuclear or radiological engineering and dismantling
- Radioactive waste handling, treatment, and disposal
Through this pre-market engagement, the University is seeking feedback to support the development of a future procurement, including:
- Refinement of the technical specification
- Development of appropriate evaluation criteria
- Understanding of delivery and contracting models (e.g. single contractor or consortium approach)
- Identification of key risks, constraints, and regulatory considerations
- Indicative programme durations and mobilisation requirements
No preferred delivery model has been selected at this stage.
The University is not currently seeking bids or formal proposals, but rather information and feedback to support procurement development.
Participation in this pre-market engagement does not constitute, and should not be interpreted as, a commitment to procure or enter into any contractual arrangement.
Nature of Engagement:
Organisations responding to this notice will be invited to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) response document, participate in individual meetings or site visits, and provide feedback on potential technical approaches, delivery models, and risks.
Engagement will be conducted on a non-competitive and non-discriminatory basis. Participation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement process.
Future Procurement:
The University intends that the outcome of this pre-market engagement will inform a future procurement for the decommissioning works.
The procurement route, structure, and timeline will be finalised following completion of this engagement. Any future procurement will be conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
Participation in this engagement will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent procurement process.
How to Respond:
Interested organisations are invited to complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) Response Document as confirmation of interest in participating in discussions. Suppliers must complete and return the forms via the correspondence function on the Universities e-tender portal In-Tend:
in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/ ↗
Responses should be submitted by the deadline 17th July 2026 at 17.00
Transparency & Compliance:
This pre-market engagement is conducted in line with the principles of transparency, equal treatment, and proportionality. This notice is issued for market engagement purposes only.
No costs incurred by participants will be reimbursed, and no contractual obligations arise from participation.
CPV: Dismantling works · Energy and related services · Environmental services · Radioactive-, toxic-, medical- and hazardous waste services · Works for complete or part construction and civil engineering work
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Cardiff University buys Building demolition and wrecking work and earthmoving work (CPV 4511), and who usually turns up
Cardiff University’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Building demolition and wrecking work and earthmoving work (CPV 4511) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Wales (Cymru).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 42 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid9% / 38%
2–347% / 25%
4–635% / 25%
7+9% / 13%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate54% / 31%
Within ±2%13% / 31%
Above estimate33% / 38%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 4511Published estimate£2.0m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 115 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid15%
2–337%
4–635%
7+14%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Works
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 18 Jun 2026, 11:40 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Jun 2026, 11:40 BST
- Authority reference
CU.2260.RH- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057486- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b7e1Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
18 Jun 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published129 days ago18 Jun 2026, 11:40 BST
- Market engagement99 days ago17 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
Organisations responding to this notice will be invited to complete an Expression of Interest (EOI) response document, participate in individual meetings or site visits, and provide feedback on potential technical approaches, delivery models, and risks.
Engagement will be conducted on a non-competitive and non-discriminatory basis. Participation will not confer any advantage or disadvantage in any future procurement process.
The University is seeking expressions of interest from organisations with experience in one or more of the following areas:
- Radiological decommissioning of specialist facilities
- Cyclotron or medical isotope production facility decommissioning
- Removal and disposal of activated materials, including structural elements
- Nuclear or radiological engineering and dismantling
- Radioactive waste handling, treatment, and disposal
Through this pre-market engagement, the University is seeking feedback to support the development of a future procurement, including:
- Refinement of the technical specification
- Development of appropriate evaluation criteria
- Understanding of delivery and contracting models (e.g. single contractor or consortium approach)
- Identification of key risks, constraints, and regulatory considerations
- Indicative programme durations and mobilisation requirements
No preferred delivery model has been selected at this stage.
The University is not currently seeking bids or formal proposals, but rather information and feedback to support procurement development.
Participation in this pre-market engagement does not constitute, and should not be interpreted as, a commitment to procure or enter into any contractual arrangement.
Interested organisations are invited to complete the Expression of Interest (EOI) Response Document as confirmation of interest in participating in discussions. Suppliers must complete and return the forms via the correspondence function on the Universities e-tender portal In-Tend:
in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/ ↗
Responses should be submitted by the deadline 17th July 2026 at 17.00
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 8 days1 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 127 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Jun 2026, 11:40 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender