Ansaldo Energia (AEN), in which Fondo Strategico Italiano (FSI) holds a stake of 84.55%, has reached an agreement through Ansaldo Nucleare to acquire 100% of Nuclear Engineering Services (NES), a British company involved in UK’s largest nuclear decommissioning programme. The acquisition is worth about EUR 36 millions.

Following the agreement, Ansaldo Nucleare – thanks to a wider expertise in decommissioning and nuclear plants sectors – will be able to offer an even broader range of services and to expand to international markets, starting from the UK market characterized by a highly positive outlook.

The agreement is part of the developments that Fondo Strategico Italiano announced for Ansaldo Energia Group at the time of the sale of 40% of AEN to Shanghai Electric (SEC), along with the creation of two joint ventures between AEN and SEC to produce gas turbines for Asian markets and the development of an R&S centre in Shanghai.

NES has a workforce of 400 employees operating across three centres in the UK, with a turnover of approximately 45 million euros. In addition to the broad range of projects for the nuclear power industry and the defence sector, the company is also heavily engaged in the design, construction and implementation of three highly elaborate plants to empty and recover remote contaminated material at the Sellafield site. The latest is one of the world’s largest nuclear decommissioning sites and represents a source of potential development opportunities for the new group.

Ansaldo Energia, a leading Italian player in the power generation industry, has been active in the nuclear sector through its subsidiary Ansaldo Nucleare for over 50 years.

Ansaldo Nucleare, is at the forefront for the implementation of new projects (it built the only reactor to enter service in Europe in the last 10 years and was a supplier for the first AP1000 in China), is presently working in Argentina on safety upgrade and plant life extension (PLEX) projects and in Italy on the Country’s decommissioning program.