Inspection & Quality Assurance

Project Overview

In 2023, our Quality Services business line successfully secured an Inspection Quality Assurance (IQA) 3-year contract, with the option of a 2-year extension with Sellafield

Ltd. This collaborative frame agreement, forms a critical part of the UK Government’s Nuclear Decommissioning programme and supports the vast majority of manufacturing companies within the sector and the end users Sellafield Ltd and other NDA strategic partners.

The Challenge

As part of the UK’s nuclear legacy and infrastructure programme, Sellafield is owned by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Sellafield Ltd, a NDA subsidiary operating company have been licensed to manage all aspects of the site. The site covers 650 acres, comprising of more than 200 nuclear facilities and 1,000 buildings. As Europe’s largest nuclear site, the ongoing planned decommissioning of these legacy facilities is targeted for completion by 2120, at a cost of over £121 billion.

The scope of our IQA contract, covers every aspect of nuclear manufacturing, oversight and surveillance. It is therefore of particularly importance to our client, that we engage and mentor the relevant supply chain companies to ensure all quality concerns are not only identified but remediated as part on the ongoing programme.

The Solution

We have a range of Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP), with the appropriate levels of accreditations and competence to complete the contract requirements. This ensures all inspections are completed safely and are in full compliance with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements.

Correctly resourcing individuals in a timely manner is crucial to carrying out this demanding contract. Using our bespoke in-house system, which includes a global locator dashboard to efficiently and accurately resource projects enable our Quality Services team to locate the most qualified inspector, nearest to the vendor’s location work site. This tool removes Sellafield’s requirement to mobilise their own inspectors, while supporting the reduction of their carbon footprint.

Nuclear, much like many other sectors, continually faces resourcing challenges. This is why we continually develop the next generation of Quality Inspectors and Technicians via a range of apprenticeships and mentoring initiatives:

• Welding Inspection development
• Engineering support training
• Nuclear R&D support

Further Development‍

introduced the Remote Digital Inspection process (RDI) Altrad enhance and enable visibility for key stakeholders from a distance. At the same time as providing valuable and operational support technology for operations, it also reduces the need for people travelling excessively to various sites. Again, further minimising our and our client’s carbon footprint.

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