Home / Opportunities / Opportunity
PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project

UK Atomic Energy Authority · Tender notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 30 Sept 2026, 11:30.

Opportunity overview

A. Lot 1- THALIA Project The THALIA Project serves as the parent initiative with the primary goal of testing and validating analytical work-up methods and instrumentation for tritium accountancy in molten breeder material matrices. The THALIA workstream will be structured into dedicated functional areas, each designed to support specific activities: • Molten breeder handling area – for heating and maintaining breeder material in a molten state, equipped with a purpose-built tritium introduction system to accurately dose and generate tritiated breeder material samples at required concentrations. • Preparation area – for weighing and formulating molten breeder materials, including dosing with impurities where required. • Sample collection and cooling area – for safe collection and solidification of samples. • Sample analysis preparation area – for wet chemistry sample preparation and sample darkening, following methodologies developed under the ERATO Project. • Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) analysis – following preparation into a suitable LSC cocktail, samples will be analysed using LSC instrumentation. The LIBRTI programme is a central component of UKAEA’s fusion energy mission, specifically focusing on the safe and effective handling, storage, and processing of tritium—a critical fuel for fusion reactors. B. Lot 2 – LIBRTI Facility Project The LIBRTI Facility Project aims to establish Liquid Scintillation Counting (LSC) capabilities through collaboration with partner organisations, enabling the training of future personnel working at the neutron facility. This capability underpins tritium breeding research, including the analysis of purge gases and breeder materials such as solid, liquid, and molten salts. A sample oxidizer will be required for preparing solid samples that cannot be directly processed for LSC analysis. Following oxidation and preparation into a suitable LSC cocktail, samples will be analysed via LSC instrumentation.

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

Southern Scientific Ltd.

Matched by exact name
Published award value
£708.6k
Awarded
3 Dec 2025
Award ID
1
Status
active
Identifier
GB-PPON PXMH-3166-PNVW
Location
Henfield, UKJ28, BN5 9SL, United Kingdom

Classification

  • CPV38942000 — Alpha beta counters
  • CPV38943000 — Beta counters
  • CPV38944000 — Beta gamma counters

Lots

  • Lot LOT-0000£540k

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
T/MN109/25
Status
complete
Above Threshold
Yes
Procurement Method
open
Main Procurement Category
goods
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure

Amendments

Entry 1
Id
068852-2025
Description
Please note that the award weighting on the initial notice was incorrect - the actual weighting between Quality/Pricing is 60/40.

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Expected award period

Ends
5 Dec 2025, 23:59

Tender Period

Ends
19 Nov 2025, 12:00

Enquiry period

Ends
11 Nov 2025, 12:00

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
LOT-0000
Status
complete

Value

Amount
540,000
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
648,000

Suitability

Sme
Yes

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Name
Technical Questions
Type
quality
Description
Segments into: Technical and Experience (Mandatory and Conditional scope) Programme Adherence Social Value

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
60
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Name
Commercial Questions
Type
price
Description
Fixed price determined for both lots, with separated pricing for mandatory and conditional scopes. Rates card for staffing also required.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
40
Weight
percentageExact

Contract period

Ends
1 Apr 2026, 00:59
Starts
22 Dec 2025, 00:00

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
LOT-0000
Related Lot
LOT-0000

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
38943000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Beta counters
Entry 2
Id
38942000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Alpha beta counters
Entry 3
Id
38944000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Beta gamma counters

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Entry 2
Id
067950-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
23 Oct 2025, 16:30
Entry 3
Id
068852-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
tenderNotice
Published
28 Oct 2025, 10:55

Planning and budget

No Engagement Notice Rationale
The main base of the tender is three identical LSC machines, of which there is an established supplier base in the UK of several providers. Given that these items are 'Off-the-shelf', there would have been limited benefit from engaging with the market prior to this notice.

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Id
GB-PPON-PLJV-1169-JTDD
Name
UK Atomic Energy Authority

Roles

buyer

Address

Region
UKJ14
Country
GB
Locality
Oxfordshire
Postal Code
OX14 3DB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Culham Science Centre

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Identifier

Id
PLJV-1169-JTDD
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Name
Maili Nugent
Telephone
+44 1235468141
Organisation 2
Id
GB-PPON-PXMH-3166-PNVW
Name
Southern Scientific Ltd.

Roles

supplier

Address

Region
UKJ28
Country
GB
Locality
Henfield
Postal Code
BN5 9SL
Country Name
United Kingdom
Street Address
Scientific House, The Henfield Business Park, Shor

Details

Vcse
No
Scale
sme
Sheltered Workshop
No
Public Service Mission Organization
No

Identifier

Id
PXMH-3166-PNVW
Scheme
GB-PPON

Contact

Telephone
+44 1273497600

Award information

Award 1
Id
1
Date
3 Dec 2025, 00:00
Title
Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project
Status
active
Above Threshold
Yes
Main Procurement Category
goods
Assessment Summaries Date Sent
3 Dec 2025, 00:00

Items

Item 1
Id
LOT-0000
Related Lot
LOT-0000

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Id
38943000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Beta counters
Entry 2
Id
38942000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Alpha beta counters
Entry 3
Id
38944000
Scheme
CPV
Description
Beta gamma counters

Value

Amount
708,620
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
850,344

Documents

Entry 1
Id
079495-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK6
Description
Contract award notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
awardNotice
Published
3 Dec 2025, 16:53

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-PPON-PXMH-3166-PNVW
Name
Southern Scientific Ltd.

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
1
Type
futureSignatureDate
Status
scheduled
Due
16 Dec 2025, 23:59

Related lots

LOT-0000

Contract period

Ends
1 Apr 2026, 00:59
Starts
22 Dec 2025, 00:00

Standstill Period

Ends
12 Dec 2025, 23:59

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
1
Title
Liquid Scintillation Counter Procurement for ERATO/THALIA and LIBRTI Project
Status
active
Award ID
1
Date Signed
18 Dec 2025, 00:00
Above Threshold
Yes

Value

Amount
708,620
Currency
GBP
Including VAT
850,344

Period

Ends
1 Apr 2026, 00:59
Starts
22 Dec 2025, 00:00

Documents

Entry 1
Id
085214-2025
Format
text/html
Notice Type
UK7
Description
Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Document Type
contractNotice
Published
22 Dec 2025, 09:05

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Oxfordshire · UKJ14 · OX14 3DB · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UK · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. ocds-h6vhtk-05d2cc-2025-12-22T09:05:32ZTender notice on Find a Tender ·