A NORTH-EAST based engineering firm has secured a waste treatment deal worth up to £336m.

Amec, which runs its European headquarters from Darlington, will work alongside Jacobs Engineering Group and Balfour Beatty at Sellafield.

Bosses say the four-year contract will focus on Sellafield’s Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP), which is designed to treat reactor waste by containing it in concrete and readying it for long-term storage.

Samir Brikho, Amec chief executive said: “We have successfully delivered complex projects at Sellafield for more than 50 years, during which we have played a key role in the development and delivery of many of the major waste treatment plants on the site.

“The BEP project is another significant nuclear waste management initiative in the programme to reduce the historic waste issues on Europe's most complex nuclear site.”

Under the terms of the contract, the joint venture will deliver the complete life cycle of services to the project, which addresses the clean-up of one of the most hazardous legacy facilities on the Sellafield site; from project management, design and engineering, procurement, installation, and construction management through to inactive commissioning.

Earlier this month, Amec revealed a memorandum of understanding with China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to work on the civil nuclear sector in the UK and China.