IAEA Launches New Nuclear Contracting Toolkit

The IAEA has recently launched a new Nuclear Contracting Toolkit to help Member States plan and implement procurement and contracting processes for their nuclear projects.

Procurement must be managed effectively to ensure that a facility functions as designed throughout its service life. Ineffective procurement can jeopardize facility safety, reduce performance or result in increased costs. The new toolkit is one of the methods developed to identify and promote best practices in procurement and contracting.

“The procurement and contracting process for new nuclear power plants is a complex endeavour and is essential for the success of such projects,” said Mikhail Chudakov, Deputy Director General and Head of the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Energy. “Efficient, fair and equitable contracts are, thus, key for the safe, secure and sustainable nuclear power generation, and the IAEA is here to help.”

The toolkit provides steps on how to develop a procurement strategy, propose and solicit bids and negotiate and manage contracts. It also provides templates and application guides for various types of contracts. It is available for free and without registration via the IAEA’s web site.

The toolkit also helps to ensure that purchases are made with a high level of ethics and transparency. However, it is not a substitute for professional advice, whether technical, legal or financial and does not substitute national or international guidelines, procedures or regulations, Chudakov highlighted.

The toolkit replaces an earlier BIDEVAL-3 application that was published in 2000 and was referred in an associated IAEA Nuclear Energy Series publication No. NG-T-3.9 “Invitation and Evaluation of Bids for Nuclear Power Plants” (issued in 2011). It complements the IAEA’s “Procurement Engineering and Supply Chain Guidelines in Support of Operation and Maintenance of Nuclear Facilities” (IAEA Nuclear Energy Series No. NP-T-3.21), a new publication which provides an overview of nuclear-related procurement processes and offers guidance on how to set up and manage a high-quality procurement organization. The new publication also includes lessons learned for organizations considering nuclear power plant projects.

Image: The new online toolkit is intended to support all levels of procurement activities related to a nuclear power plant development project. Photo courtesy of IAEA