AN engineering firm says it will continue work at a nuclear site, despite the termination of a major contract.

The Government has ended a £9bn deal awarded to Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), with ownership moving to the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

The NMP consortium includes Amec Foster Wheeler, US engineering group URS, and French energy firm Areva.

NMP, which employs 10,000 workers, was given a 17-year contract in 2008 in one of the UK’s largest-ever public procurement agreements.

However, the NDA said after a year-long review, it believed simplifying its relationship with Sellafield would help deliver more value for money.

Despite the changes, Amec Foster Wheeler, which employs about 1,400 North-East workers, said it expects to play a significant role in decommissioning at Sellafield.

It previously revealed a £336m deal to work alongside Jacobs Engineering Group and Balfour Beatty at Sellafield in a joint venture to address waste treatment operations at its Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP).

The BEP site is designed to treat reactor waste by containing it in concrete and readying it for long-term storage.

A spokesman said: “The NDA has confirmed the decision to terminate the Sellafield contract in early 2016 is not performance related.

“This does not impact any other Amec Foster Wheeler work at Sellafield.

“NMP will continue to ensure safe operations are maintained at the site, and Amec Foster Wheeler looks forward to continuing a significant role in the decommissioning work at Sellafield.”

Amec, which carried out a £2bn takeover for Foster Wheeler, employs 450 staff at Lingfield Point Business Park, in Darlington - its engineering base for Europe - and another 100 people at its Darlington process and energy site.

In addition, Amec has offices on Tyneside and Foster Wheeler a site in Middlesbrough town centre.