Provision of Services: Support in Nuclear Projects (May 2023)

Introduction

We carry out activities across the full life cycle of civil nuclear projects. We support businesses both in the UK and internationally on decommissioning and waste management and storage activities. We are also committed to supporting the development of new technologies and new generation projects in the nuclear power sector and are involved in a number of developments for new technologies being deployed in the UK and internationally. If you would like to find out more, you may find the following information helpful and please do not hesitate to contact us for a discussion on how we might support your business activities.

We have the legal expertise within our firm, but we are also able to provide support on the technical side through our close connections with globally renowned consultants in the nuclear sector. To support you, we will use a team of selected experts. Each selected participant will be recommended by Castletown Law and pre-approved by you. The support we offer is comprehensive, and the scope of the skills we bring under Castletown Law management is demonstrated in the Reference Projects table.

Besides our core nuclear law team, we are able to offer support in the areas of corporate, commercial, and construction. We also bring specialist property law, litigation and disputes, employment law and planning law support through our network of alliance firms in the UK.

Internationally we have a growing alliance with specialist practices which reflects our own approach to the delivery of specialist services and value to clients. Examples of these relationships that may be of interest are in Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Lithuania, Romania and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Executive Summary

Castletown Law is committed to supporting you - our lead team members will be available at all times

This means that whenever you need us, we are contactable by email, phone or available to attend meetings on short notice. We work flexibly and cooperatively, utilising common tools and systems so we know what you need and when you need it. We will have staff who can locate locally and if needed, be embedded in your organisation.

We will work co-operatively as part of your team

Our role is to add value and experience to your team. We work with many consultants on large projects for clients, so we are used to the communication, management and exchange of knowledge that occurs in such situations.

Our experience demonstrates we can fulfil your requirements

You will see from our credentials that we are experienced in the areas where you require support. We have described several case studies to demonstrate the depth of our understanding of these types of projects and where we have worked on similar legal structures.

We bring a full team of experienced senior staff

Our team is used to working together with client teams and other consultants on large projects together and the nature of the work we do requires us to understand the relative strengths of our team and allocate and manage resource. This is an essential part of our approach with the result that all we do is coordinated to give you the most efficient solution.

By choosing a targeted approach and being careful to focus on our areas of expertise, we are able to excel in our specialisms.

We fully cover corporate, regulatory, commercial and international aspects. We will work with local businesses of your choice or assist in their selection to meet your requirements.

Supporting you by being there with you!

The Castletown Law commitment is to provide excellent service and advice. We take responsibility for ensuring all those we work with are committed to the same standards.

We take our responsibility to the industry in which we work seriously, and we are dedicated to it in a way few firms offer. Working with Castletown Law you will be dealing directly with the business leaders who deliver the service you need.

The value we place on our client relationships cannot be underestimated. It means most of our clients have used members of our team for more than 10 years. We are reliable, trusted providers in this specialist area.

Castletown Law Nuclear Team

Our core team are all experienced lawyers:

‍Andrew Renton

Andrew leads on commercial and industry related issues. He is a leading solicitor in the energy and infrastructure industry, who specialises in commercial contracts within the sector across multiple jurisdictions. His commercial approach to project completion and management and the prevention of escalation of disputes and avoidance of litigation, is welcomed by clients.

Specific Nuclear Experience:

Andrew has been involved in advising clients in the nuclear sector since the mid 1990’s. His most recent and relevant experience in the sector is as follows:

·     Supporting DECC on proposal for GDF at Moorside.

·     Advising KEPCO on the involvement in the acquisition of an interest in the Moorside project.

·     Advising KEPCO (jointly with specialist consultants) on entering and streamlining the GDA process.

·     Advising on contract structure and drafting for phase four of Finnish NNB programme in relation to main technology providers delivery of obligations.

·     British Energy’s IP rights relating to reverse engineering of nuclear generation control and instrumentation.

·     Strategic replacement control systems facing obsolescence.

·     Consultation with EDF on strategic approach to major projects contract management and supply chain integration.

·     Major Project Agreement strategy for interface with unions for NNB projects.

·     Supervising development of NNB tier 1 and subsidiary contracts for NNB at Hinkley Point.

·     Advising the Jordanian Government on the issues arising from their proposed development of civil nuclear facilities.

·     Preparing advice for the Turkish Government on the institutional reforms necessary for the development of civil nuclear projects in Turkey.

·     Advising design and delivery consortium of Korean companies on the commissioning and commercial operation process for the Barakah NPP in Abu Dhabi.

‍Simon Stuttaford

Simon leads on Nuclear and Regulatory matters covering major projects from an environmental, planning and compliance point of view. His experience includes appointments as a leading team member on legal matters for Horizon Nuclear Power and as General Counsel and Company Secretary for Energy Solutions (PBO for Magnox Ltd, SLC).  Simon was a Partner with the Legal Practice DWF where he was Head of Nuclear and Joint Head of Environment. Simon has developed and delivered an online Master`s level module on Nuclear Law for the University of Birmingham.

Specific Nuclear Experience:

·     Advising and briefing a parliamentarians’ group for nuclear development in the UK.

·     Advising a Baltic nation on its development of nuclear law and supporting legislation with a focus on advanced nuclear technology development.

·     Supporting an engineering business on decommissioning framework contracts in the UK and other jurisdictions.

·     Advising a foreign Nuclear Industry Association on the UK nuclear liability regime.

·     Providing advice to an advanced modular reactor technology developer on the key regulatory and licensing processes.

·     Developing and producing (in conjunction with Andrew Renton) three guides to the relevant regulatory processes for SMR Developers.

·     Supporting Horizon Nuclear Power with environmental permits (i.e. water discharge activities, combustion permit activities, water abstraction, radioactive substances regulation activities), legal compliance training and drafting core policies and corporate governance issues.

·     Managing specific Horizon Nuclear Power projects (nuclear site licensing and permit activities) together with supporting Licensing and Permitting functions.

·     Advising Horizon Nuclear Power on environmental/regulatory issues and environmental compliance issues, (i.e. waste transfer and transport requirements).

·     Involved in the strategic role of a parent company over a licensed subsidiary, including oversight over safety case issues, security and enforcement issues.

·     Advising and drafting on commercial agreements including Memorandums of Understanding, Collaboration Agreements, Joint Venture Agreements, Consortium and Teaming Agreements for Energy Solutions.

·     Providing stand-alone advice to clients on regulatory compliance, including radioactive substances, waste and waste packaging, waste shipment regulations, carriage of dangerous goods and the Environmental Permitting Regulations.

·     Advising on licensing and delicensing issues including compliance with licence conditions, nuclear liability insurance, transport, safeguards, security, interpretation of the “no danger” principle etc.

·     Advising on statutory changes to the nuclear liability regime applicable in the UK and by reference to European treaties.

Maroof Mittha

Maroof advises on energy and infrastructure matters, focusing on international nuclear regulation. During his LLM in International Energy Law and Policy, Maroof focused on EU and International Nuclear Law, the legal framework for international project finance,  Just Transitionin Europe, EU Competition law, and international Investment Arbitration. His Master’s dissertation, which received a Distinction in 2021, was on legal and policy developments on nuclear power under the European Union Law assessing the relevance of the Euratom Treaty and nuclear decommissioning framework. Maroof also has a post-graduate diploma in banking law and graduated with an LLB from Quaid-e-Azam Law College in 2009.

Between 2009 and2019, when he returned to university to do his LLM, Maroof worked as a commercial disputes lawyer in Lexum Legal Practice representing government, public authorities, and private entities in the power sector and other businesses.

Maroof has published a number of papers including Exporting nuclear waste material for treatment and storage; position and practices under the international legal framework (Co-author); Moving beyond oil and gas: What can we learn from states of the Commonwealth? (Co-author); Emergency relief options in MENA arbitrations (Co-author); Renewable Energy Policy in Pakistan: A Critique – Courting the Law (2021); Climate Change, Pakistan, and issues of water supply and groundwater in the Indus Basin (2021) - COP26 and beyond; Applicability of Indus Waters Treaty and Regulation of Transboundary Groundwater in the Indus Basin – Courting the Law (2021).

Specific Nuclear Experience:

·     Working with senior colleagues in advising ANT Groupon legal and regulatory issues.

·     Working with senior colleagues in advising and briefing a parliamentarians’ group for nuclear development in the UK.

·     Advise clients on the FNEF applications submitted by them in the UK.

·     Working with colleagues in Estonia and Finland to deliver statutory and regulatory instruments to facilitate nuclear power generation through advanced technologies in Estonia.

·     Commercial disputes for power plants, regulatory litigation, intellectual property enforcement and property cases.

·     Extensive engagement in litigation for the power sector and natural resources sector.

·     Invited by Dalton Institute to speak on the Hinkley Point C litigation and cases before the European Court of Justice.

·     Invited to speak on the potential role of nuclear power in the energy transition in Morocco.

·     Invited to speak at Kathmandu University School of Law (Nepal) to comment on the energy transition policies and the role of nuclear power in South Asian countries.

Rob Higgins

Rob leads on project delivery, major bid support and contract management. Rob has over 20 years’ experience providing commercial legal advice within major projects and dispute resolution within nuclear, government, construction, PFI and rail sectors. His skills include coverage of project delivery, major bid support, contract management, corporate re-structuring, M&A, and public sector project procurement.

Specific Nuclear Experience:

As a member of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) Executive team Rob was responsible for a broad portfolio of functions (including legal) and projects with the remit to deliver transformational change across supplier management for the NDA Group of companies. He led the delivery of corporate strategy on supply chain optimisation, digital transformation, land portfolio development, cyber & security culture and intellectual property exploitation.

·     Legal support and advice to NDA Board on legal risk (e.g. corporate, GDPR, security, litigation).

·     Set up and led NDA Group Legal Department with external spend c £3-5m p.a.

·     Established external legal supply chain.

·     Support to major public sector procurements.

·     Resolution of disputes with supply chain arising from JCT, NEC and bespoke forms of contract (settlement, mediation, litigation).

·     Negotiation of revised incentivisation for contractors as part of settlements.

·     Renegotiation of contract terms to avoid contract failure (e.g. Magnox contract c.£1.8bn).

·     Successful litigation against insurers for c£80m loss covered by Business Interruption Policy.

·     Advised CEO and NDA Board on a broad spectrum of corporate, project delivery and commercial issues.

·     Leadership of c £80m p.a. project spend.

William Wilson

William Wilson is an independent barrister and legal consultant, expert environmental and energy lawyer, with 25 years’ experience, in government, consultancy and private practice. He worked for 9 years in the UK Government Legal Service at the Department of the Environment/DETR/Defra, which included managing UK and EU legislation, advising Ministers and the Department on UK and EU radioactive substances law. For example, on Sellafield THORP, MOX and emissions decisions and cases, drafting implementing EU legislation such as the Basic Safety Standards Directive and advising on environmental and nuclear law issues concerning the Atomic Weapons Establishments.

For 15 years he helped to build up the environmental and nuclear law practice of a major UK law firm, Burges Salmon LLP. This included direct experience of advising on various aspects of most of the nuclear sites in the UK and he has advised government departments and a wide range of companies and bodies responsible for nuclear operators, newbuild, decommissioning and nuclear waste disposal.

He has taught nuclear law at Master’s level on the LLM course at De Montfort University, Leicester, been a contributing author on two books on the subject, a guest lecturer on nuclear law at Queen Mary University London and the Dalton Institute in Manchester and has undertaken drafting projects for new nuclear laws in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, from policy workshops to the finished Laws and Regulations.

Specific Nuclear Experience:

·     Advice to UK Nirex and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

·     Advice to NDA subsidiaries including Nuclear Transport Services.

·     Advice on shipment of nuclear materials across multiple jurisdictions.

·     Advice on nuclear liability in multiple jurisdictions, including drafting new nuclear liability laws in Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

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Additional nuclear sector capability is available from Vectlaw.

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Other Castletown Law Team Members

David Gilchrist

David leads on corporate transactions, joint ventures, finance and commercial contracts with his principal area of practice being in the infrastructure, clean energy and oil and gas sectors.

With over 20 years’ experience in corporate and commercial law, David has worked extensively across the energy and infrastructure sectors. He is well established within the industry, having significant experience operating as a Partner, Head of Energy & Industrials and a member of a Global Energy Strategic Board of a major international law firm.

David’s understanding of the industry is particularly strong as a result of him having been seconded to the Energy Management team of Scottish Power (circa 3 years in total) and Certas Energy UK (circa 9 months).  He therefore appreciates the different challenges faced by clients and how best to support them.  

David has worked with a wide variety of clients including developers, funders, investors, utilities, operators, manufacturers and the supply chains supporting them.  He advises clients from start-ups to globally listed companies across the world in relation to commercial contracts, joint ventures, outsourcing, energy trading, regulation, financing and mergers and acquisitions.

David brings that blend of corporate and commercial law experience in the sector which is so crucial in delivering the advice clients need in major project environments.

Richard Lucas

Richard is a leading lawyer in the infrastructure, transport and defence sectors who specialises in commercial contracts and project agreements across multiple jurisdictions. His work exposes him to complex transactions across all major asset classes on deals involving air, land, sea and cyberspace.

After graduating from the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne in 1987, Richard qualified as a solicitor in 1990. Soon after qualifying he became involved in the privatisation of British Rail and became a key member of the team that created the industry structure that enabled privatisation. Post privatisation Richard advised a number of companies that bid for and won contracts covering passenger service operations, real estate and construction, and rolling stock procurement.

Richard’s extensive knowledge of the defence sector originated from PFI schemes and has seen his expertise requested across complex infrastructure projects in the field and advising on some of the largest defence projects ever completed in the UK. He acts for many of the world's major defence contractors on a wide range of international defence procurement. Richard is familiar with all the latest procurement techniques ranging from outright acquisition to third party financed transactions, to the provision of services under detailed performance measurement systems. Inevitably he has significant experience of Offset, outsourcing, intellectual property and technology transfer.

Although Richard is principally focused on the Middle East and the UK, he is involved in projects around the world.

Lisa Naylor

Lisa is very experienced with construction and engineering contracts. She trained in Andrew’s team at their former firm qualifying in 2000 and focusing primarily on project documentation acting for a wide range of developers, contractors, funders and institutional investors. Lisa has been involved in various onshore energy projects advising on commercial contract structures and agreements for the supply chain including cable and turbine supply and installation contracts as well as related documents such as bonds, guarantees, vesting arrangements, warranties and step-in agreements.

Lisa’s involvement in major projects acting for different parties allows her to understand the commercial factors underlying the contract process and to give a guiding hand on the best approach to negotiation for clients to achieve successful outcomes.

Most recently Lisa has been working on contracts for onshore grid and network reinforcement and replacement.

Eman Abuzeid

Eman is based in the Middle East between Amman, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Eman graduated from Bristol University in the UK, with an LL.B and LL.M. Eman is a registered Attorney at the Jordanian Bar Association. She has over 30 years’ experience as a lawyer and advisor in the Middle East including Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Oman as well as in the Emirates, Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon.

Eman has been involved in both private sector and government advisory roles. Her clear and concise advice and contribution to the management and administration of projects has been extremely valuable to clients and project success.

Eman has worked on projects and transactions with particular focus on energy, infrastructure, transport and security. Trained initially in court work, Eman maintains a significant dispute resolution capability, most recently in significant arbitration matters.

Strong relationships at executive and government levels regionally and internationally provide an important contribution to Eman’s input to clients’ strategy and objective setting. Her flawless fluency in English and Arabic is a major advantage in providing clients with comprehensive and expert advice.

Close to her heart are projects and roles that not only lead to her client’s success, but also result in progress and the betterment of the lives of people in the region.

Hugh Fraser

Hugh is a corporate and commercial lawyer with over 25 years’ experience and has been based in Dubai for over 16 years. His career has been almost exclusively focused on international energy projects including the oil and gas sector, onshore and offshore.

Hugh has extensive experience in supporting clients on business expansion initiatives for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He represents regional clients on asset and intellectual property protection with significant involvement in advanced technology and know-how in the energy and water sectors.

Hugh is on the Middle East advisory panel for the UK’s Energy Industries Council. He is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE), Energy Institute and the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE). He was appointed to the Scottish Enterprise GlobalScot international business advisory network in May 2017.

Robin Corbett

Robin has worked extensively on onshore infrastructure for the energy industry, with both multi- national and UK based clients. Robin’s experience includes advising during the construction phase of high-pressure gas pipelines, with a focus on the acquisition of necessary rights and consents, and on issues arising from operation of pipelines. These include landowner compensation claims for loss of land development opportunities on land in the vicinity of pipelines, and pipeline protection agreements where development is permitted close to pipelines.

Infrastructure experience also include sadvising on real estate aspects of a proposed carbon capture facility, intended to utilise voids associated with a worked out offshore gas field.

Outside the oil and gas sector, Robin has worked frequently on projects both in the private sector and involving participants from both public and private sectors. He is familiar with complex contractual structures.

Sandra Rankine

Sandra is one of Castletown Law’s experts seconded on a semi-permanent basis from her commercial property law firm, Elliot Matthew, one of our Alliance Companies. She is a partner in a property team that covers property law across the UK and acts for clients worldwide. Advising on specialist property matters, Sandra and her team bring targeted expertise in the areas of commercial development and regeneration.

Sandra has a broad commercial property background and currently focuses on leases for occupiers including office, hotels and leisure and property investment, particularly for foreign investors. Sandra has recently been involved in the forward purchase of a substantial residential development and subsequent purchase of the freehold of the wider site in Manchester for a Middle Eastern investor. As well as acting on multiple leases for shops, restaurants and shopping centres in England and Scotland, she has particular experience in the letting of industrial and distribution warehousing and manufacturing centres. (www.elliottmatthew.com)

Cathy Donald

Cathy is a highly regarded employment law practitioner. She is a lead partner in the specialist employment practice of Ergo Law, one of our relationship firms. With experience in restructuring, consultation, relocation and transformation within business, Cathy and her team at Ergo Law work closely with us to support our clients.

Ergo Law acts for companies operating in a broad range of industries. They advise on the full range of circumstances where employment law impacts, including advising employers on employment contracts, workplace policies, redundancy and restructuring, employment status, disciplinary and grievance processes, settlement agreements, absence management and TUPE. Ergo Law also provides advice on senior executive exits and post-termination restrictive covenants.

The firm is on the panel of recommended employee advisers for a number of large employers and, in this capacity, Cathy and the team at Ergo Law have been involved in a number of large-scale redundancy exercises in recent years, including in the financial services and manufacturing sectors. While employment issues can often prove complex and involve difficult or emotive conversations, Cathy’s pragmatic and personable approach ensures her clients are well placed to navigate these issues with confidence. (www.ergolaw.co.uk)

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