The U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and partners are offering £3 million ($3.8 million) in investment for nuclear decommissioning technology innovation projects, according to an announcement Wednesday.
NDA has partnered with Sellafield Ltd. and Innovate UK, and the group is seeking projects that integrate technologies into a single platform or a small number of platforms. They are looking for innovations that minimize human intervention, increase productivity, and optimize waste treatment, packing, and routing.
NDA included the following examples in its announcement: robotics and autonomous systems, sensors and detectors, imaging, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, digital and ICT, big data, and modeling and simulation.
The funding, which will be rolled out in two phases, falls under NDA’s small business research initiative. Phase 1 will fund production of detailed technology plans and business cases, and “the best ideas could attract funding in the second phase to develop a demonstration project.” After successful demonstration, the projects could be deployed and demonstrated at radioactive facilities at the Sellafield nuclear site.
