Maintenance and Development of the Dounreay Data Management System

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id

C20891

Status

complete

Procurement Method

direct

Procurement Method Details

Direct award

Why this procedure was chosen

This a direct award for the purposes of the Procurement Act 2023 and is being made pursuant to Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 (Single Supplier - absence of competition for technical reasons). NRS Dounreay considers that, due to technical reasons, only the incumbent supplier can deliver the required services and that no reasonable alternatives exist. The Dounreay Data Management System (DMS) is a highly bespoke, business-critical system developed and configured specifically to meet NRS Dounreay’s operational, safety, and regulatory requirements. The solution incorporates complex integrations with operational plant systems, bespoke data structures, and functionality evolved over a number of years. The incumbent supplier holds unique and irreplaceable technical knowledge of the system architecture, configuration, integrations, and underlying design. This knowledge is not fully documented to a level that would enable a third party to assume delivery without significant additional effort and risk. Any alternative supplier would be required to undertake substantial reverse engineering, knowledge transfer, and revalidation activities to understand and safely operate the system in a live nuclear environment. This would result in: • disproportionate technical and operational risk to the continuity of critical waste management activities; • unacceptable delays to service delivery and ongoing system development; • significant duplication of cost and effort; and • potential impacts on compliance and system assurance. Given the above, the Authority considers that competition is absent for technical reasons and that no reasonable alternative or substitute exists which could deliver the required services within acceptable levels of risk, cost, and time.

Published risks

The Authority anticipates risks associated with the migration of the DMS solution to an open-source software stack, including the potential extent of rework required to remove proprietary components, maintain existing functionality, and ensure system performance. The scale and impact of these activities cannot be fully determined prior to contract award and may necessitate modification to the scope, delivery approach, and/or contract value. Open-source migration complexity - The Authority anticipates risks associated with the migration of the DMS solution to an open-source software stack, including the potential extent of rework required to remove proprietary components, maintain existing functionality, and ensure system performance. The scale and impact of these activities cannot be fully determined prior to contract award and may necessitate modification to the scope, delivery approach, and/or contract value. Residual IP removal and system decoupling - The Authority recognises a risk that the extent of residual proprietary intellectual property and system dependencies may require additional or alternative technical solutions to achieve full independence. The impact of this risk cannot be fully established in advance and may require modification of the contracted services. Integration with plant systems / WRACS interfaces - The DMS solution interfaces with operational plant systems (including WRACS). Changes in interfacing requirements, system behaviours, or data structures may arise during the contract term. The extent of any required system changes cannot be determined at award and may necessitate modification to the technical scope and associated services. Cyber security / Secure by Design changes - The Authority anticipates that evolving cyber threats, security standards, and Secure by Design requirements may require modification to the DMS system architecture or controls. The nature and extent of such changes cannot be predicted and may require variation to the contract scope and cost. Regulatory / nuclear compliance changes - Changes to applicable legislation, regulatory requirements, or nuclear waste management standards during the contract term may necessitate system enhancements or redesign. The impact of such changes cannot be fully defined in advance and may require contract modification. Expansion to other sites - The Authority is considering potential expansion of the DMS solution to additional sites as they transfer under NRS management arrangements. The specific requirements, scale, and complexity of such expansion cannot currently be determined and may require modification to the scope and value of the contract. Unknown system changes arising from live operations - Changes to the underlying hosting environment (including Microsoft Azure services and pricing models) may require adaptation of the DMS solution. The extent of such changes cannot be fully predicted and may necessitate modification to the contract scope or cost.

Lots and requirements

Published documents

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Award information

Recorded locations

• Buyer location · Warrington · UKD61 · WA3 6GR · United Kingdom