Cooper Solutions engineers will maintain waste specialist LLW Repository's entire materials handling fleet of 30 machines

The UK's main facility dedicated to the safe and efficient disposal of low-level radioactive waste has reinforced its partnership with Cooper Handling Group after awarding the company a new five-year contract to maintain its mobile site equipment.

LLW Repository (LLWR) manages the national Low Level Waste Repository in West Cumbria on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and oversees a national program to ensure that lower activity waste is managed effectively across the UK.

The relationship with Cooper was established in 2013 when its heavy lifting division, Cooper Specialised Handling, won a contract to supply LLWR with three 42-1200B Konecranes forklifts. Now, maintenance arm Cooper Solutions has secured a five-year contract for all of LLWR's mobile site equipment.

Iain Irving, head of site at LLWR, says: "Cooper has a wealth of expertise in our industry and we know we can rely on its team to specify materials handling equipment that is best-suited to working in a difficult environment and ensure it is properly maintained so that we get optimum performance from our fleet."

The original Konecranes machines supplied by Cooper replaced LLWR's existing equipment and the contract was awarded under full Official Journal of the European Union conditions.

The additional machines - a Konecranes 16 T truck and two 12 T forklifts - were customised to satisfy the demands of the nuclear industry and incorporate site-specific options designed to improve safety and driver comfort while also promoting equipment longevity.

Maintenance support covers not only the Konecranes equipment but LLWR's entire rolling fleet totalling 30 assets.