SM Stoller Corp and Newport News Nuclear, both subsidiaries of Huntington Ingalls Industries, bring extensive experience of nuclear waste handling and programme controls from managing the majority of licenced nuclear sites within the United States.

The agreement will enable the three firms to bring innovative processes and systems to market and collaboratively target nuclear new build and decommissioning projects across the UK.

Simon Smith, Managing Director of Utility Services at Morgan Sindall, said: “The signing of this agreement demonstrates our commitment to significantly expand our UK nuclear presence.

“We have a clear understanding of the UK’s future nuclear requirements and a proven construction and infrastructure capability within this sector.

“Through our collaboration with Stoller and Newport News Nuclear we are further strengthening our capabilities and experience which will be instrumental in enabling us to provide an enhanced range of new build and decommissioning services to the UK nuclear market.”

In 2012, Sellafield awarded a contract to Morgan Sindall in joint venture to provide a range of essential infrastructure asset services to the Sellafield site.

The contract, worth up to a potential £1.1bn, will run for an initial five year period but could be extended for a further ten years.

Huntington Ingalls Industries is headquartered in Newport News in Virginia.

It designs, builds and manages the life-cycle of the most complex nuclear and conventionally powered ships for the US Navy and Coast Guard and also provides engineering and project management services expertise to the US commercial energy industry.

“We are eager to share our nuclear remediation and project planning and execution core competencies with a strong partner in the UK” said Stoller President Nick Lombardo.

“Our collaboration with Morgan Sindall will allow us to provide capabilities and experience we have developed over decades to significant nuclear projects and services in the UK nuclear market.

“We look forward to a long and mutually successful relationship with Morgan Sindall.”