Strong Position On Nuclear
7 July 2010
Costain's current work on the Evaporator-D plant at Sellafield
which is currently the largest nuclear construction project in the
UK gives the company a strong position to benefit from approaching
nuclear power plant construction contracts, believes its new
Nuclear Development Director.
"The prospects are very good. There will be up to 12 nuclear
reactors built in the next 10 years, a market that's worth around
£50billion," says Alistair Smith. My role is to help Costain win
some of the major opportunities in building these new nuclear power
stations."
Costain has formed a consortium, ConstructEnergy, with Sir
Robert McAlpine, Hochtief and Heitkamp to take advantage of the
potential opportunities in the nuclear new build sector. Costain
will bring its experience from its current nuclear construction
projects and its ongoing interests across the Power market.
Although the country's economic situation has led to the
Government cutting back on spending, Smith believes that the
nuclear reactor construction programme will go ahead, both because
nuclear power can be the cheapest form of generating low carbon
power and because the construction programme will require no
Government subsidies.
Additionally, with North Sea oil and gas in rapid decline and
many of the older generation of nuclear power station approaching
closure, new generating capacity is urgently needed. "Power
utilities know that they need to invest in a mix of power
generation technologies, including renewables, efficient gas power
plants and nuclear to provide the country with secure, low-carbon
and affordable electricity," Smith commented.
Smith, 50, who has recently joined Costain from consultancy
Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), hopes to bring a lifetime's experience
in the nuclear sector to win work for Costain.
Before his five years with PB, where he was Director of Nuclear
services, he was with the National Nuclear Corporation (NNC) for 23
years. NNC was the organisation that designed and built the
previous generation of nuclear power plants. He is Chairman of the
Power Industries Division of the Institution of Mechanical
Engineers and holds the same position with the Industry Affairs
Group in the Nuclear Industry Association, which represents the
interests of industrial members in discussions with clients,
Government and regulatory bodies.
Ends