Atkins and Assystem are to form a strategic alliance to create a 50/50 nuclear engineering joint venture to provide consultancy and engineering services to the rapidly-expanding international nuclear new build market. The Nuclear Atkins Assystem Alliance will enable both companies to address demand from governments and utilities in countries developing nuclear power as part of their energy mix and will provide services to nuclear new build projects and across the entire nuclear fuel cycle.

The alliance will enable both Atkins and Assystem to expand in a highly promising market. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) states that more than 30 countries are using nuclear power as a sustainable energy source and another 30 are considering development. Together, these countries represent a market of more than 200 new reactors over the next 20 years.