The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has announced a major partnership which will see innovative technology deployed for the first time to remotely and autonomously sort and segregate nuclear waste.
The project, Auto-SAS, will be delivered jointly by AtkinsRéalis and Createc, working in partnership as ARCTEC, to combine their joint experience and track record of developing automated systems and robotics in the nuclear energy sector.
They will apply the lessons learned from the solutions they developed in an earlier innovation competition to create a system that will be deployed on the NRS Oldbury former nuclear site.
The NDA has committed to invest up to £9.5m in the project over four years to help clean up nuclear waste.
How robotics will help remove dangers from nuclear waste clearing
Manual segregation of radioactive waste is complex and hazardous due to the nature of the material; therefore, caution is exercised. Where waste is mixed, it’s currently categorised as Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) or Plutonium Contaminated Material (PCM), rather than being sorted by type or radioactivity.
Using robotics provides the ability to use technology to more accurately categorise nuclear waste, avoiding using more costly waste routes when they aren’t required, while also removing people from hazardous environments and giving them the opportunity to develop new skills.
Energy Minister Michael Shanks explained: “This cutting-edge partnership represents exactly the kind of innovation the UK needs to lead the world in safe, efficient nuclear decommissioning.
“It will put the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority at the forefront of using robotics to sort nuclear waste.”
Determining the most appropriate waste route for faster decommissioning
Auto-SAS will be deployed at the NRS Oldbury site in South Gloucestershire initially and will be used to separate low-level waste from intermediate-level waste, which has been retrieved from the site’s vaults and generated during the power station’s operational period.
Andrew Forrest, NRS Chief Technical Officer, commented: “This collaboration brings a game-changing opportunity to accelerate nuclear waste management and help deliver the decommissioning mission sooner, safely and cost-effectively.”
The ARCTEC system will use a combination of sensors to categorise radioactive waste before robotic manipulators grasp and consign waste items to the most appropriate waste route.
Robert Marwood, Head of Robotics and Technology for AtkinsRéalis said on behalf of ARCTEC: “This is an ambitious project with the potential to automate a time-consuming process and develop a scalable system that segregates hazardous materials safely and efficiently.
“AtkinsRéalis and Createc have a strong track record in developing and deploying advanced robotic systems in nuclear decommissioning.”
He concluded: “We are excited to be able to combine this expertise to collaborate and help the NDA achieve effective and optimised waste management for the UK’s legacy nuclear sites.”
The ambition is to eventually transfer learning to support future deployments at other NDA group sites, for example, Sellafield.
