A hi-tech engineering company which specialises in nuclear decommissioning is to double in size in the next year.

RWE Nukem, based at Harwell, plans to boost its workforce from 150 to 300 as it looks to cash in on a new Government drive to renovate power stations and handle nuclear waste efficiently.

RWE major projects director Ken Jackson said: "The Government is refocusing on cleaning up its nuclear legacy.

"There have been a lot of new contract awards through the new Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, with the emphasis on environmental restoration."

Recent contract wins for RWE include handling waste from the existing reactor at the Sizewell B power station in Suffolk, decommissioning at the Winfrith site in Dorset and, as revealed in Jobs Extra earlier this month, the storage of 1,300 drums of nuclear waste at Harwell.

Mr Jackson also revealed the expansion of the firm will mean it is now in negotiations to take over the whole of the Harwell Library building, which was refurbished last year to provide commercial premises.

Last July RWE moved into the top floor initially from an older building on the site but will need more space to accommodate the new employees.

Now the hunt is on to recruit the new workers, many of whom will need to be of a high calibre.

Mr Jackson added: "It will be a mixed team of engineers, safety and environmental specialists.

"We will be looking for graduates, as well as technicians and designers.

"The good thing is the contracts we have stretch over years so that we can not only offer people a job but a clear career path, with people being able to train and develop as they go along.

"While we would not expect to recruit them all locally, there is a lot of relevant expertise here with scientific and engineering capability."

RWE took over the nuclear work carried out by AEA Technology about three years ago and has received a huge boost from the move.

But ironically, AEA Technology, which now specialises in rail and environmental consultancy, is struggling and there have been hundreds of job losses.