Czech engineering company Vítkovice Heavy Machinery (VHM) and UK company TSP Engineering have signed an agreement to cooperate in the decommissioning of UK NPPs and the supply of components for nuclear-powered submarines. VHM said on 10 August that the five-year contract is worth about CZK3.5bn ($158m). The agreement includes the supply of containers for the transport of contaminated material from decommissioned nuclear power units in the UK. VHM already supplies containers for the transport of waste from the Magnox sites in the UK.
VHM is part of the Ostrava-based heavy engineering company, Vítkovice Machinery Group, which incorporates about 30 companies. The group says it has a "modern, extensive and unique production base and know-how based on research and development". Vítkovice has been operating in nuclear power since the second half of the 1960s. TSP Engineering, which has been supplying the nuclear and defence industries since 1950, was bought by British Steel last year and newly registered as British Steel Limited, but trading as TSP Engineering. The company says its Workington site is one of the largest engineering facilities in the UK, comprising 19,200 square metres of workshop capacity.
"The contract includes activities and products related to controlled shutdown of nuclear power plants and supplies to the defense industry," explained Eva Kijonkova, Vítkovice spokeswoman."The first joint deliveries will include containers for the transport of contaminated materials in nuclear power plants shut down in the UK," Kijonkova said. "Our advantage is the closed production cycle, from the steelworks through hi-tech fittings to the final product, such as the container," noted VHM general manager Martin Bednarz. "The agreement also includes special facilities needed to shut down nuclear power plants, as well as staff training."
