TORONE - TOtal characterisation for Remote Observation in Nuclear Environments

The future use of nuclear energy in the UK and internationally is very much dependent on the ability to characterise the various highly radioactive environments that occur in the nuclear industry for both efficient decontamination and decommissioning as well as in the design of new nuclear fission reactors as well as fusion reactors.

Currently, site and material characterisation is costly and time consuming because remote methods for the environmental, chemical and geoscientific characterisation of man-made and natural materials, specifically designed for the nuclear arena, are limited. The inaccessible, complex and confined nature of these often high-radioactivity environments can preclude traditional field-based data collection techniques, which are often focused on sample collection and off-site analysis. With costs entering the tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds for sample analysis in a particular plant, and the possibility that access is so restricted that obtaining samples may actually be impossible, remote in-situ analysis prior to segregation may offer a cheaper, safer, quicker and thus far more attractive solution. On their own, current in-situ techniques (e.g. gamma spectroscopy, 3D laser scanning, elemental composition through laser induced breakdown spectroscopy), each answer a particular characterisation question, but on their own only provide a component of the full characterisation picture that is required for instance for waste segregation.

This project aims to combine such technologies into an integrated system, with each technology contributing in real-time to form a seamless jigsaw - a 'total characterisation' picture - setting characterised materials into the spatial context of the environment they are located in. Advanced robotics and control technologies will be used in a similar way to NASA's Curiosity Rover to form the flexible platform necessary for the trials in a range of nuclear environments from Sellafield in the UK to Fukushima in Japan.

The environmental and societal impacts of nuclear energy generation cannot be overstated and have received national and global exposure for many years especially for waste disposal. Nuclear decommissioning and clean-up has been estimated to cost the UK tax payer between £90bn and £200bn over the next 100 years, produce a vast inventory of environmentally detrimental waste to dispose of, and potentially be of high risk to human health and safety. In addition, investment in new nuclear build before 2030 is estimated to be £60bn and the cost of building and operating a geological disposal facility is circa £12bn. The corresponding numbers internationally are enormous, with the global cost of nuclear decommissioning estimated to be £1tn. Translating the 'total characterisation' aims of this project into industry would however dramatically improve our understanding of nuclear environments, leading to accelerated decommissioning, decreased risk to human health and safety, reduction in the detrimental environmental effect through enabling waste segregation, and considerably reduce costs to the UK taxpayer. This represents enormous benefits to society in the UK and internationally. The project will also have an impact on the research and development in academia and end -user industry of new nuclear fission approaches as well as a greater understanding of the fusion reactor environment leading to accelerated introduction of safer more efficient low-carbon energy supplies for the benefit of society.

There is huge potential to translate outputs to other industrial applications. For example the proposed integrated technology would be equally at home characterising infrastructure in the oil and gas sector, whilst undertaking remote forensic investigation in the CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) event sector. In addition to industrial translation, in bringing together robotics, detectors and photonics characterisation, the project would fly the flag of British science and engineering in three areas that are not commonly grouped together, providing a new focus on such integrated technology.