Framework Agreement For Contingent Resource
Framework Description
NRS is planning up to five framework agreements for contingent resource, meaning flexible labour and skilled staff, to support decommissioning at the Dounreay site. The frameworks are due to start in June 2027 and run for up to four years, on a two-year initial term with two optional one-year extensions. Estimated cumulative call-off value is £18 million, although NRS does not commit to any volume of work.
Context & Use Case
Dounreay's decommissioning programme has peaks of activity when project teams need extra people: skilled trades, technical staff and support personnel. NRS will use the frameworks to bring in vetted workers at short notice for those peaks and for specialised tasks, without running a recruitment exercise each time. Appointing up to five agencies gives it several sources of supply when demand rises sharply.
Scope of Services
Contingent labour and skilled staff for Dounreay decommissioning Vetted personnel meeting nuclear site requirements Workforce management, including scheduling and compliance Surge capacity for peak project phases and specialised tasks
Lots
See framework link
Who Can Apply
Recruitment agencies and labour suppliers placing skilled and semi-skilled workers in construction, decommissioning or industrial settings. You will need to show you can source, vet and manage a flexible workforce that meets nuclear site security and competency standards. The tender is still to come, so every qualifying agency can compete.
Buyer Benefits
NRS gets fast, compliant access to extra people without adding permanent headcount, which suits a programme whose workload rises and falls. Using several agencies spreads supply risk, and framework terms fix the vetting, safety and competency standards each worker must meet before arriving on site.
Next Steps
Watch the NDA group procurement pages at nationaldecommissioning.org for the tender, working back from a June 2027 start. Prepare evidence of supplying contingent workers to large industrial or regulated projects, your vetting and right-to-work checks, worker compliance records and your margin structure. Show too how you will mobilise people quickly to a single remote site for sustained periods.
How Athena Can Help
With up to five places and an £18 million estimate, competition among agencies will be keen. Athena can set out a bid for the bid plan now, so your vetting, compliance and supply evidence is ready before the tender lands.
When it opens, our bid writers and pricing analysts build the responses and a margin model that stays competitive over a four-year term. We can also add other nuclear and public sector labour frameworks to your pipeline through our framework entry support.
