AU.K.-U.S. team has begun final negotiations with British officials to assume ownership and cleanup management of a defunct nuclear research site in Scotland, which would be Britain's second-largest decommissioning project. The team, selected on Nov. 23, is set to take over the Dounreay site in April if it can show how at least $780 million and six years can be cut from the current cleanup effort, which now may cost $4 billion and last until 2038.
On Nov. 23, the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority said it selected Babcock Dounreay Partnership to take over the site. The team consists of Babcock Nuclear Services Ltd., London; CH2M Hill Cos. Inc, Englewood, Colo., and a U.K. arm of URS Corp., San Francisco. It bested a bid from Caithness Solutions, a U.K.-based team of EnergySolutions, a Salt Lake City nuclear storage firm, and Amec Nuclear Holdings Ltd., London. A final contract and site transition is set for April 2.