IN Brief:
- AtkinsRéalis has secured a professional services framework covering EDF’s UK nuclear portfolio and Sizewell C.
- The framework spans more than 60 technical and project delivery disciplines.
- The appointment supports the transfer of Hinkley Point C experience into the Sizewell C construction phase.
AtkinsRéalis has been appointed to a new professional services framework supporting EDF Nuclear Services, EDF Nuclear Operations, Hinkley Point C, and Sizewell C across the UK nuclear portfolio.
The framework extends the multidisciplinary work AtkinsRéalis already delivers across EDF’s existing nuclear fleet and the Hinkley Point C new-build programme. It has an initial five-year term, with an option to extend for a further five years.
The appointment also brings AtkinsRéalis into the Sizewell C new-build programme, where the company is expected to apply knowledge gained from Hinkley Point C as the Suffolk project moves into construction.
Under the framework, AtkinsRéalis will support more than 60 technical and project delivery disciplines, including design, engineering, programme management, consultancy, digital design, project delivery, and decommissioning expertise. The company has more than 3,000 employees working across civil nuclear programmes in the EMEA region.
The UK nuclear construction market is moving from isolated megaproject delivery towards a more repeatable model. Hinkley Point C has carried much of the burden of rebuilding large-scale nuclear construction capability in the UK, including workforce development, supply chain qualification, regulatory learning, design coordination, and complex civil engineering sequencing.
Sizewell C is intended to benefit from that accumulated experience. Replication does not remove the difficulty of nuclear construction, but it can reduce uncertainty where design, procurement, quality assurance, documentation, and construction methods are carried forward from one programme to the next.
That transfer of learning will be closely watched. Large nuclear projects carry exceptional levels of cost, schedule, regulatory, and political scrutiny, and Sizewell C’s value case rests heavily on whether it can capture genuine efficiencies from Hinkley Point C rather than simply repeat its complexity.
Professional services capacity is a central part of that equation. Nuclear delivery requires more than civil construction capability; it depends on design control, systems integration, nuclear safety case support, digital coordination, quality documentation, mechanical and electrical expertise, environmental management, and long-term operational planning.
The appointment also reflects a wider shift in UK infrastructure procurement towards continuity. On programmes that run for a decade or more, project knowledge becomes a delivery asset. Consultants that understand the design history, regulatory commitments, supply chain constraints, and construction methodology can reduce friction as schemes move from design into site execution.
That front-end burden is visible across the major infrastructure market. Heathrow’s third runway planning work, where the planning application cost is heading towards £800m, shows how much technical, environmental, legal, and programme evidence must be assembled before large schemes reach main works.
Nuclear sits at the same high-risk end of the delivery spectrum. The construction phase depends on decisions made years earlier in design governance, supply chain strategy, site preparation, regulatory engagement, and documentation control.
AtkinsRéalis’ latest appointment forms part of the professional infrastructure that will determine whether the UK can move from one-off nuclear megaprojects to a more durable delivery model. Sizewell C will test that ambition in practice, with replication, skills continuity, and supply chain discipline all under pressure once construction scales.
