Sellafield Ltd has awarded the Cumbria Manufacturing Alliance a four‑year contract valued at up to £10 million to manufacture waste containers for use on the Sellafield site. The alliance-Bendalls Engineering in Carlisle and West Cumberland Engineering in Workington-has secured two contracts to supply 3m³ stainless‑steel ‘legacy boxes’. The initial order covers 60 box assemblies for the Box Encapsulation Plant’s active commissioning, with the first six assemblies due by autumn 2026.
Sellafield states the containers are designed for remote handling of intermediate level waste retrieved from legacy ponds, with transfers routed to the Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP). The programme begins with design‑for‑manufacture before moving into production, and the first 3m³ boxes will be used to test plant performance and to pre‑load the facility with empty containers ahead of operations targeted for 2027.
BEP has progressed through key readiness milestones. In March 2024, Sellafield confirmed the £1.5 billion plant had handed over its waste treatment cell to commissioning ahead of schedule-an enabler for the forthcoming active commissioning phase that these boxes will support.
The 3m³ box is a standardised package used across Sellafield’s retrievals work. Earlier phases with other suppliers established steady‑state manufacture and set out design features such as high‑integrity stainless steel construction and engineered venting. In 2021, Sellafield confirmed a further phase to produce around 1,000 boxes over the following decade, underlining the long‑term nature of demand.
The wider procurement pipeline is substantial. Sellafield’s ‘Procurements on a Page’ shows a Tranche B competition to secure approximately 15,000 3m³ boxes to enable retrievals from the Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo and the First Generation Magnox Storage Pond, with interim above‑ground storage on site pending a Geological Disposal Facility. The new Cumbria award sits within this long‑term programme.
Storage integration is already in place. The Box Encapsulation Plant Product Store and its Direct Import Facility (BEPPS/DIF) are operational to receive ILW in 3m³ boxes directly by road or via BEP, with capacity for 6,681 containers and design life for up to 100 years of storage from the start of active commissioning. This is the store that will receive boxes produced under the new contracts.
Regulatory context remains clear. The Office for Nuclear Regulation identifies the legacy ponds and silos as facilities under enhanced attention and confirms that once waste is retrieved it is placed in specially designed boxes and moved to modern stores until a Geological Disposal Facility becomes available. Retrievals from the four legacy facilities have commenced but will take decades to complete.
Strategically, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority sets hazard and risk reduction at Sellafield as its highest priority, with new treatment and storage capabilities developed to support retrievals. The authority’s strategy highlights the role of new waste packages and stores as central enablers of mission delivery, which aligns with Sellafield’s ongoing box procurement programme.
For Cumbria, Sellafield emphasises that awarding to a regional alliance will build supply‑chain capability and create opportunities to upskill and develop people, supporting a sustained manufacturing base linked to nuclear decommissioning. The near‑term focus is completing detailed design and starting production so that BEP can be pre‑loaded and commissioning progressed toward planned operations in 2027.