It is inevitable as we get closer to the conclusion of this important competition that media will speculate and some stakeholders will offer personal comment.

Recent speculation as to certain bidders being ahead or behind others is clearly without any foundation given that we have not yet received final bids. We have been scrupulous in following the process so far and we will continue that way.

Following the conclusion of dialogue in November 2007, the Invitation To Submit Final Tenders (ITSFT) was issued to all four bidders on 21 December 2007. The competitive dialogue process does not allow NDA to make material changes to its expression of requirements following the conclusion of dialogue and the release of the ITSFT. Therefore suggestions that recent departures from the NDA have added confusion to the competition cannot be valid. None of those named in the media were part of the competition team, nor were they part of the tender evaluation team.

The Sellafield competition has been scrutinised by Government via three separate processes:

a Partnerships UK Review (on behalf of DBERR)
the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) Gateway Review process
the Treasury’s Major Projects Review Group (MPRG)

All have commended the NDA for the thoroughness of its work to date and the strength in depth of its team.

Final tenders are expected from bidders by 7 April 2008. These bids will then be evaluated using objective and relevant criteria. Following that process, and subject to Government approval, we will enter into final clarifications with the preferred bidder before moving to award of contract later this year.

In summary, the Sellafield competition remains on track and the NDA has the team in place to bring it to a successful conclusion.