LongOps Research and Development programme

LongOps is a 4 year programme of R&D that brings together three nuclear operations use cases:
decommissioning in the UK, decommissioning of the Fukushima Dai-ichi reactors in Japan and the
design of the first remotely operated fusion reactors. LongOps is a unique international
collaboration funded equally by UKRI, the NDA and TEPCO (Japan).
RACE will lead LongOps delivery working closely with the NDA Group (led by Sellafield Ltd), TEPCO,
industry and academia.
The three nuclear end users have a need to develop solutions to conduct work over many decades
inside large, shielded spaces which contain hazardous material using remotely controlled ‘long
reach’ slender robotics. Hence: LONG Term OPerationS - LONG Reach Manipulators.
In recent years robotics hardware and software has progressed to the point where remote
operations are increasingly feasible and cost effective. The widespread uptake of robotics is
dependent on a managed transition from working ‘hands-on’ to ‘person-in-the-loop’. This process
is dependent on the availability of reliable equipment, suitably qualified and experienced
operators, organisational infrastructure and leadership strategy. A number of these key themes will be further explored and developed with the Robotics and AI Collaboration (RAICo), which includes NDA, Sellafield, UKAEA's RACE, University of Manchester and the National Nuclear Laboratory.
The common thread that unites the LongOps use cases is an aspiration to use the Next Generation of
Digital Twin to develop strategy, decrease risk, deliver training and manage long term remote
operations for a range of tasks in a range of nuclear environments. The LongOps Digital Twin will
be a collection of integrated software tools that enable interaction with either the real world or a
simulation of the real world that is designed to assist remote operations.