The Provision of Continuation Nuclear Site Safety Justification (NSSJ)

The Naval Base Commander Devonport (NBC(D)) delivery team, part of the Ministry of Defence, intends to Direct Award additional Nuclear Site Safety Justification (NSSJ) work to Abbott Risk Consulting Limited (ARC Ltd) as a fixed duration continuation of the NSSJ service provision based at HMNB Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, UK.

In the field of application, this contract is governed by the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023), and the Authority considers that the award of this work without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with Schedule 5, paragraphs 6 and 7 of the PA 2023. This is reasoned by technical constraints, as Abbot Risk Consulting Limited have committed four (4) years to date, on the production of a suite of Safety Case documentation and any change in supplier would result in disproportionate disruption through ensuing document complexities and modification that introduce intolerable risk to the delivery of operational programmes.

The requirement for continued work is the result of changes to the site's As Low As Reasonably Possible (ALARP) safety processes, and emergent safety case updates necessary to satisfy requirements of the Defence Safety Nuclear Regulator (DNSR) that uphold safety documentation integrity and enable site Authorised conditions to be met. This work is in addition to work contracted under the competed NSSJ contract (701551834). This additional work shall be between the period 17 June 2025 and the 31 October 2026, with an estimated value of £2,100,000 ex VAT (£2,420,000 including VAT). The contract shall include no options to extend beyond the 31 October 2026.