A company in west Cumbria has been awarded a £30 million contract to manufacture nuclear waste containers for Sellafield Ltd.

TSP Engineering will provide 50-tonne, lead-lined containers that will transfer nuclear waste from the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo to newly-built storage facilities on the Sellafield site.

The work is expected to create or sustain around 200 jobs at TSP Engineering, according to Sellafield Ltd.

John Coughlan, CEO of TSP Engineering said: “This is great news for TSP Engineering, our workforce, supply chain and the local economy.

“Sellafield placing this order highlights the confidence our nuclear customers have in our proven ability to deliver the most technical and complex solutions within budget and programme plan. It is a significant step towards our ambition to further grow in the nuclear industry and highlights the calibre and skill of our award-winning workforce.”

Under a previous contract, the company produced one new and nine refurbished packages for the Magnox project.

The new contract is expected to run for a few years and will complete the fleet of packages needed to empty the silo – one of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s highest priority programmes.