Nu-Decom

Nuvia Limited, a UK based, international nuclear engineering, project management and services contractor has teamed up with a number of the UK's top innovative technology providers in response to Innovate UK's SBRI IIND funding competition. The title of the project is "Nu-Decom" and that reflects the aim of the project which is to demonstrate a range of new decommissioning technologies that will deliver the safer, cheaper and quicker decommissioning of the UK's nuclear legacy. Nuvia have assembled a comprehensive team suited for the complex and wide ranging challenges associated with the decommissioning of the active process plants on the Sellafield site. The team includes expertise from both industry and academia, and the fields of expertise include: (1) Teleoperable systems, advanced robotics & semi-autonomous systems for challenging environments. (2) Remote radiometrics and geometric characterisation. (3) The post processing of geometric data into 3D modelling and visualisation software packages. (4) The use of games technology, virtual (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies to provide immersive environments for training and communications purposes. (5) The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide a knowledge base and expert systems that can be used to support and guide remote operations across the UK's decommissioning program. (6) Application of Human Factors principles. These innovative new technologies and techniques will be integrated with Nuvia's own tried and tested nuclear decommissioning expertise and knowhow which has been successfully deployed throughout the UK and on the global decommissioning market thus providing an established route to a global market for UK Technologies. The Project Team's industrial partners include:- Nuvia (Project Lead), Clicks & Links (C&L), Hu-Tech, MOOG, PaR Systems, Tacit-Connections (TC), UKAEA RACE and Imitec. The Project Team's academic partners include: University of Manchester (UoM) and the University of Bristol (UoB). As part of Phase 1 the project team will assess each step in a typical decommissioning process including:- initial characterisation, decontamination, the design & manufacture process, operator training, HAZOP and safety case processes, site preparation, installation & commissioning, Safe Systems of Work (SSoW), the Human Machine Interface (HMI), remote operations, size reduction, consumable management, materials handling, routine maintenance, remote intervention & repair, waste export routes, ex-situ size reduction, assay monitoring, waste sorting, waste sentencing & segregation, waste packaging, waste container handling and finally export from the facility. Phase 1 will investigate the feasibility of applying the range of innovative technology platforms to each of the above steps and rank and rate each of the applications and potential benefits against the required criteria i.e. improved productivity, minimising human intervention, transferability, scalability and optimising waste treatment packing and routing into the most cost efficient waste streams. The project will also consider the Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) and the cost to develop technologies to a level suitable for (a) Inactive Demonstration (Phase 2) and (b) active demonstration. The project will prioritise and make recommendations for which platforms go forward to the Phase 2 inactive demonstration.