Official UK procurement notice
SBRI: UKAEA Fusion industry challenges prototype development
Authority: United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) competition funded by the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA).
This funding programme will support the UK’s leadership in economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy.
The aim of this competition is to encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle.
CPV: Lithium · Research services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1A pre-commercial activity under SBRIAwarded
A pre-commercial activity under SBRI. The aim of this competition is to encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle.
Your project can focus on one or more of the following:
Isotopic Enrichment
- Technologies that can enrich the proportion of the minor isotope Lithium-6.
- Enrichment will be essential to the fuel sustainability of many fusion power designs and, where it is not essential, can add value by boosting Tritium production. This will enable the commissioning and re-start of other fusion power plants.
- Lithium enrichment represents a front-end fuel cycle service that will be demanded by fusion reactor operators around the world.
Examples of performance measures that would constitute an improvement over existing Lithium enrichment technologies include:
- product quality, for example, maximum enrichment level (percentage), purity and product form (metal or compound)
- economics, for example, production rate, capital cost, energy and resource consumption or value of co-products
- environmental and worker protection, for example, hazards, waste production, obstacles to licensing such as the Minamata Convention
Tritium Extraction
Technologies that can extract Tritium from a Lithium breeding material and make it available, fast and efficient enough to fuel the ongoing Deuterium-Tritium (DT) reaction.
Performance parameters relevant to a fusion energy plant’s fuel cycle system include:
- rate of extraction
- continuous operation
- availability of recovered Tritium
- energy cost
- Conversion and Manufacturing
Technologies or techniques that can convert Lithium from the form available in existing supply chains into either:
- a form suitable for an isotopic enrichment process
- a form required by the Tritium breeding system of a fusion energy plant
Aspects relevant to a sustainable and competitive supply chain include:
- raw material input forms for example, Lithium Chloride, Carbonate, Hydroxide
- product output forms, for example, suitability for a variety of enrichment processes or breeding systems
potential to recycle Lithium, for example, use of recycled Lithium from other sectors in fusion, or recycling of Lithium after its use in a fusion energy plant Additional information: apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1572/ove… ↗
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 16 Oct 2023, 08:51 BST
- Last source update
- 16 Oct 2023, 08:51 BST
- Authority reference
T/VT043/23- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-030386- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-040c24Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
This was a pre-commercial procurement activity lead by Innovate UK. All information relating to the tender can be found here: apply-for-innovation-funding.service.gov.uk/competition/1572/ove… ↗
- Review procedure
VI.4.2)Body responsible for mediation procedures
VI.4.3)Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
Precommercial procurement activity not subject to Public Contract Regulations 2015.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor UniversityEncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle | £1,164,578 † | — | Awarded |
| Frazer-Nash Consultancy LimitedEncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. | £1,498,332 † | — | Awarded |
| University of BristolEncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. | £726,383 † | — | Awarded |
| University of BristolEncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. | £1,237,502 † | — | Awarded |
| The University of EdinburghEncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. | £1,497,970 † | — | Awarded |
| UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTEREncourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. | £1,285,606 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle · Bangor University
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £1,164,578
- Status
- active
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. · Frazer-Nash Consultancy Limited
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £1,498,332
- Status
- active
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. · University of Bristol
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £726,383
- Status
- active
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. · University of Bristol
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £1,237,502
- Status
- active
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. · The University of Edinburgh
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £1,497,970
- Status
- active
Encourage innovation in the development of Lithium in an economic, sustainable, and scalable fusion energy fuel cycle. · UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
- Signed
- 12 Oct 2023
- Value
- £1,285,606
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- UK Atomic Energy AuthorityMediation bodyReview bodyReview contact point
Bidders & participating suppliers
5 commercial parties on the notice- Bangor UniversityAwarded supplier
- Frazer-Nash Consultancy LtdAwarded supplier
- University of BristolAwarded supplier
- University of EdinburghAwarded supplier
- University of ManchesterAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.