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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/annual-research-and-development-review-202021/annual-research-and-development-review-202021

Katherine Eilbeck, Head of R&D, Sellafield Ltd

I have reason to be proud of our world-class R&D program, which continues to evolve and achieve results.

This report was released in the shadow of preparations for the next 26th COP Summit, and now it is time to reflect on the impact of this work on helping to prove that nuclear energy is sustainable by accelerating, reducing risks and reducing Sellafield’s costs. Limited decommissioning And waste management activity plan.

Rebecca Weston, Chief Operating Officer, Sellafield Ltd

We publish this document every year-our review of the work done by the Sellafield Ltd R&D team. This sounds obvious, but science is the key to our success in creating a clean and safe environment for future generations.

The Sellafield factory is full of unique challenges. It is our scientists who work closely with colleagues in the wider business, our supply chain partners, and academia that are creating solutions to these challenges.

Our mandate is broad and fascinating, and this report is only an understanding of what we do.

As we begin to empty ponds and silos and focus on providing the infrastructure needed to safely handle and store waste for decades to come, we have entered an exciting new era for Sellafield Ltd, and the company will be at the forefront.

This report provides a sample of the work we have done and introduces you to the people who do it.

Significant challenges for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)

For more information, please contact: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

For more information about the Nuclear Decommissioning Administration (NDA) Grand Challenge, please visit: NDA Grand Challenge.

Welcome to this year's annual research and development review, which includes a cross-section of research and development (R&D) activities.

This has been an extraordinary year because we have learned to deal with the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown, and we have included in this report an excellent article on how we can support this challenge.

During the lock-in period, we became accustomed to new ways of working, which led some of us to reflect on our current R&D plans and seek new ideas.

For me, a bright spot was the discussion with an artificial intelligence (Al) company in Silicon Valley called RealityAI about a collaborative project initiated by the Lloyd’s Register of Shipping Foundation Security Accelerator, which uses a contact microphone on the pipeline to Listen to and identify the pitfalls of using AI.

I am excited about this work and look forward to the results.

Our manifesto was launched this year. It describes the company we want to be-Sellafield that we can all be proud of. It explains why we are here and the importance of the work we do. In particular, it describes 9 behaviors that we all hope to see from everyone who performs our mission.

I hope these behaviors are proven when you read this document and interact with us, work for us, or work with us. We value cooperation with the supply chain and strive to work as a team.

R&D is about making a difference and helping us create a clean and safe environment for future generations. This approach means that we work with a wide range of supply chain companies, organizations, and universities.

More than 50 projects participated in the delivery of the projects described in this report. The National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) is an important partner, facilitating our connections with academia and providing influential research.

The report shows examples of key R&D centrally managed by 4 Sellafield value streams, and their research areas are introduced at the beginning of each section.

Throughout the report, we focused on the people involved in R&D and their true passion for the work they do.

I believe that the article here demonstrates the behavior stated in our manifesto; I hope you can see all the behavior, especially the level of trust and respect we have, which allows us to continue to provide services during the pandemic.

If you see opportunities for cooperation and/or coordination of research, development or technology transfer in our challenging areas, please contact us.

Andrew Cooney, Technical Manager, Sellafield Enterprise R&D

Our corporate technical team has a wide range of powers. Its main responsibility is to supervise and manage R&D plans that meet the medium and long-term needs of the company.

In the R&D program, key scientific and technical topics are managed by the Integrated Research Team (IRT), which identify opportunities for the development of innovative technologies, tools, and technologies, thereby reducing costs, improving safety, and shortening time spans.

Our corporate technical team is also responsible for representing Sellafield Ltd in numerous university participation projects and ensuring their coordination throughout the enterprise.

In addition, it also manages the Game Changers program and the horizon scanning function described later in this chapter.

The focus of the R&D plan is:

The role of the corporate technology function is to ensure that transformational solutions are delivered to various value streams within a range of R&D topics.

This process is supported by multiple integrated research teams (IRTs) that work with end users to determine the appropriate technology to meet the decommissioning challenges.

The role of IRT is:

The IRT focuses on scientific and technical topics, which can be found in the IRT chart below this report. These themes are key areas that require R&D in the medium and long term to support the basic delivery of Sellafield Ltd's mission and manage any potential future risks.

These topics are described in more detail in our "Future R&D Needs in 2021" report.

The long-term R&D plans managed by IRT are complementary to the short-term plans, which will be delivered by the value stream, as shown in the following figure:

Given the nature of our business, carefully explore the best technology that can be used to meet its specific challenges, prove that the risk is as low as possible (ALARP), and that funds are used appropriately.

This is to determine the challenges faced by achieving innovation, determine the available innovative solutions, and finally use technology to have a real impact on the project, while at the same time linking internal innovation needs with external innovators.

The tool for setting the challenge is IRT, they listen to the business to collect and review priorities from the value stream, link to horizontal scanning activities and identify subject matter experts to be delivered in the mid-term time frame.

The Game Changer Program is an essential part of this supportive innovation process, as it works seamlessly with the KTN Innovation Exchange Program to share technologies from other departments.

In addition, the competition initiated by Innovation UK encourages innovation, which is a funding scheme of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

This previously included "protection of nuclear decommissioning operators", "comprehensive innovation in nuclear decommissioning" and "nuclear waste classification and segregation."

In order to measure the relevance of innovation after the proof-of-concept stage, the technical readiness level (TRL) is used to measure the various stages of maturity, from 1 to 9, from basic research to feasibility study, to fully tested operating system.

The Game Changer program tends to nurture projects rated between TRL 2 and TRL 6, and then implement customized methods to advance the technology to TRL 8 or TRL 9 in preparation for project deployment.

Bridging the gap between TRL 6 and TRL 8/9 is a recognized barrier to the adoption of new technologies and is known as the "valley of death" in the innovation world.

In order to overcome this obstacle, we have developed facilities, in the new RAICo One robotic facility, Lycomfield Industrial Center, Cleator Moor, and the training and equipment development platform of the National Nuclear Laboratory, Workington and Actively, through restoration and active demonstration plan.

These facilities will, to a certain extent, achieve the continuous innovation needed to improve project delivery methods and solve challenges.

Science is about acquiring knowledge and testing hypotheses. We use this key knowledge to provide information and support for our business decisions.

In many cases, these scientific efforts will lead to the birth of innovative ideas and new technologies. Over the generations, our scientific community has developed world-leading processes, from nuclear reactors to nuclear fuel recovery.

In the coming decades, the role of our scientists will be to support the safe decommissioning and long-term storage of various nuclear stockpiles generated in the past six years.

Sellafield scientists will provide evidence to increase confidence in the decision to prove the completion of the nuclear fuel cycle, so that future generations can benefit from the new nuclear power generation.

Most of our scientific work is commissioned by British academic institutions, and we cooperate with approximately 40 universities. It commissions researchers, post-doctoral research assistants and doctoral researchers to carry out a wide range of activities.

Its academic interest not only produces high-quality research, but also helps to cultivate champions of its business in many scientific disciplines, thereby providing support, challenges, and peer review of its work, methods, and methods.

Perhaps the most important benefit of this work is to train well-trained talents in Sellafield Ltd and its entire supply chain, who will become the scientists of the future.

Optical images of special nuclear materials can

Phosphorus temperature measurement of special nuclear materials can be

Phosphorus temperature measurement of special nuclear materials can be

Over the next few decades, Sellafield Ltd will recover multiple tons of Magnox swarf (waste cladding material removed from used Magnox nuclear fuel) from the aging Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) and place it in height Engineered storage containers for temporary stores on the Sellafield website.

A certain degree of confidence is necessary to understand the physical processes and evolutionary chemistry of these and indeed many other types of waste forms so that they can be predicted in the storage system for decades to come.

Therefore, it can be guaranteed that there will be no storage problems for future generations.

Head of Uranium and Reactive Metal Sciences at Sellafield Ltd. Visiting researcher at the University of Bristol. Anna is our in-house expert in uranium surface science and corrosion. She fills the gap and helps colleagues to better predict the behavior of uranium and other active metals, and ensures that they have access to cutting-edge research in this field to support decision-making.

After completing a sandwich postdoc at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic and AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland, Anna joined the Interface Analysis Center of the University of Bristol as a Marie Curie researcher, researching uranium alloy corrosion.

It was during the postdoctoral research period that she started working in our specialized center, which led to her being selected to take over his role by the former head of uranium and reactive metals technology, John Jowsey.

Anna leads the uranium-containing waste technical team and coordinates experts from Sellafield Ltd, NNL and academia to conduct expert reviews of reports, design and modeling parameters.

This oversight provides additional confidence that Sellafield is acquiring the best scientific knowledge available to meet its unique challenges.

Working closely with university researchers helps Anna better understand the gaps in current research and where further investigation is still needed to fully understand uranium corrosion behavior.

Working with PhD students helped me still learn new things and challenge my way of thinking. I don't want anyone to agree with me all the time-this is not the point.

Our team of scientists is the core of the organization.

They are its controlling thoughts; leading the scientific investigations that underpin our mission.

They understand and explain business needs and uncertainties, build external capabilities to support their strategic goals, commission scientific work, interpret the results and provide recommendations to operational colleagues and decision makers based on credible current findings and evidence.

The team works closely with academic institutions to promote and maximize the ability to meet our requirements.

The role of scientific leaders is to directly fund research, support grant applications, participate in industry steering groups, and play an active role in universities as visiting personnel.

Steve accepted the challenge of becoming a senior scientist in 2020, having previously held positions in R&D and technical standards and assurance.

As a senior scientist, he is responsible for identifying and implementing mechanisms to support our scientific leadership and ensure that we maintain a supply of well-trained scientists in the future.

Steve's responsibilities include establishing links between Sellafield Ltd and external research organizations (including British universities, overseas institutions and funding agencies) to assist in scientific knowledge development and peer review.

This includes obtaining nuclear-related doctoral training centers (CDT), such as GREEN (Developing Skills for the Development of Reliable and Economical Nuclear Energy) CDT, and developing and maintaining capabilities throughout the academic community.

In addition, Steve has participated in various alliances, such as TRANSCEND (Transformation Science and Engineering for Nuclear Decommissioning) and NNL's CINDe (Center for Innovative Nuclear Decommissioning), and is also responsible for supporting academic research funding and related steering groups.

Steve is keen to continue to strengthen ties with the academic community, and plans to involve Sellafield's broader expertise through academic interaction.

Scientific research is vital to Sellafield Ltd. By challenging norms, acquiring information and deepening understanding, we can provide information for future key decisions. Scientific research gives us full confidence in the choices that companies make.

It achieves our goals in innovative ways, and trains and equips new talents with the skills and knowledge required by the nuclear industry throughout the process.

So far, the only way to monitor the temperature and pressure in the tank containing the active material is to use an endoscope for in-situ inspection or to use a vision-only method for ex-situ inspection.

The traditional sensor has proven to be unsatisfactory. It constantly uses battery power and often sleeps, wakes up, and measures regularly when there is nothing to measure. This usually limits battery life to a few years.

Recognizing the need to develop a long-term solution to solve the problem of monitoring high-radiation storage, Sensor Driven has developed a unique microchip sensor that can extend battery life to decades, directly using trace energy from sensor signals or leakage current to wake up Measure the electronic equipment and take the reading.

This innovative solution is connected to the bottom of the storage tank and communicates with the receiver wirelessly.

A live demonstration of the prototype sensor and related software was successfully held in April 2021, confirming that the system was working as expected, recording the temperature and pressure of the product tank and communicating the changes to the plant operator. The radiation tolerance was also confirmed before the demonstration.

This 8-month special nuclear material value stream and enterprise technical team project was delivered on time and on budget through the Game Changer Program, which attracted the participation of 2 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The prototype can be used for 20 years at 70°C with a tolerance of 1mSv/h and has a service life of 30 years.

Long-lasting radiation resistant sensor

Monitoring cans is currently complicated, time-consuming, and requires the cans to be removed from the store. This sensor will greatly reduce the need for operator intervention, thereby reducing the dose.

The ability to produce and apply sensors will be able to monitor the condition of all cans in real time.

The second phase of work has been launched in 2021/22 and will improve and improve the communication paths of the sensors and will further develop them.

Sensor driven, supported by Collender Ltd, National Nuclear Laboratory, Game Changer

Simon Malone and Paul Mott via Technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

From the mid-1980s to the 1990s, an extensive development program was carried out to determine the fixation media and technologies suitable for Intermediate Waste (ILW).

The success of this plan resulted in the construction of four existing packaging plants at the Sellafield site.

Grouts based on Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) were chosen because they are versatile, cost-effective, easy to apply, and stable within the required time frame.

Although these plants and products are very successful, there are still opportunities to develop alternative sealants that can reduce costs, environmental impact, and improve performance.

The easiest way to reduce costs and environmental impact is to reduce the number of packaging, thereby reducing the required raw materials, packaging factories, shops, transportation and geological space.

Hundreds of small-scale tests and statistical analysis have been conducted to determine the formulation range of these four cement systems.

The most promising formulations are now being advanced and applied to non-radioactive waste simulants and scaled up.

Early scaled trials using ion exchange materials and Magnox sludge simulants have shown improvements in hybrid rheology and the ability to use other application methods that will promote higher than what can be achieved with traditional methods and OPC-based sealants Load of waste.

Experiments to expand the application to a full scale are ongoing, and if successful, packaging options will be provided that can reduce the number of packaging for certain waste streams by more than 50%.

The number of packages can be reduced by using a cement system with a lower processing viscosity in order to more easily absorb higher waste loads and better encapsulate complex and large items.

The launch of the sealant IRT aims to bring together national experts from Sellafield Ltd, National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), University of Sheffield and TÜV SÜD nuclear technology to identify wastes of interest and select promising cement systems.

Conducted structured seminars and desktop reviews to identify potential sealants and waste.

The identified sealants are geopolymer, calcium sulfoaluminate, high alumina cement and magnesium phosphate cement.

Hundreds of small-scale tests and statistical analysis have been conducted to determine the formulation range of these 4 cement systems.

The most promising formulations are now being advanced and applied to non-radioactive waste simulants and scaled up.

Early scaled trials using ion exchange materials and Magnox sludge simulants have shown improvements in hybrid rheology and the ability to use other application methods that will promote higher than what can be achieved with traditional methods and OPC-based sealants Load of waste.

Experiments to expand the application to a full scale are ongoing, and if successful, packaging options will be provided that can reduce the number of packaging for certain waste streams by more than 50%.

Magnox sludge simulant in geopolymer

Magnox sludge simulant in cement

Improve the development of sealant treatment solutions

By reducing the number of potential packages, new sealants with low processing viscosity and greater resistance to problematic chemicals have advantages over traditional OPC-based sealants.

Any reduction in the number of packages will reduce the raw materials used, factories, shops, transportation and geological disposal facility (GDF) requirements, and will help reduce our carbon footprint and help achieve our net zero carbon dioxide goal.

In addition, the new sealant under study is regarded as a "low CO2" alternative to OPC-based cement.

Many small-scale formulation developments for alternative sealants have been completed and statistical modeling has been performed. The proposed formulation is advancing waste compatibility assessment and scaled tests.

National Nuclear Laboratory, TÜV SÜD Nuclear Technology and University of Sheffield

Sean Morgan technology.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

This project challenged our normal working methods and allowed us to consider actual needs rather than anticipated needs.

For example, the usual standards for masks include everything from welding to chemical resistance and bacterial resistance, but being able to use masks for welding is not a requirement for hospital wards, so challenge the actual "need" and "must have this seal" and understand the difference It is the key technical requirement to deliver the right product to the right place at the right time.

Once the epidemic clearly caused a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) and peripheral supplies across the country, our colleagues were keen to share their expertise and resources.

In order to respond quickly to this situation, various teams are assigned to support local and national groups to help resolve the crisis to ensure that sufficient suitable PPE and peripheral critical materials are purchased, approved, and delivered, and shipped to scarce areas.

These teams are composed of Sellafield Ltd.'s PPE experts, project management, innovation, product development and supply chain management, and are established as the Technical Acceptance Team (TAG).

TAG, including representatives from BAE, was able to provide similar responses in South Lake and Lancashire.

They work with the heads of Cumbria's clinical commissioning team, community and acute care team, and social care services, Cumbria County Council Response Team, and Highways Department Store and Transportation Department.

TAG members played an important role in collecting and approving supplies from our spare parts, supply chain partners, and local hero volunteers who made items such as face masks.

In addition, Sellafield Ltd has provided more than £270,000 in funding for protective clothing and peripheral products, which are manufactured by many major suppliers.

This is possible because of the technical capabilities of our employees, the expertise and relationships in the supply chain, and the input of health experts to the requirements.

This allows the decision-making, development, acceptance and delivery of new/alternative products to be made in record time, enabling us to transition from crisis to business as usual very quickly.

Not surprisingly, we are looking for technology to provide solutions to the various challenges we face now and in the future.

Therefore, the ability to understand which technologies are emerging and successfully deployed elsewhere is critical to ensuring that we can select and utilize the best solutions available.

In addition, the long-term nature of our ambitious mission requires us to understand, appreciate and adapt to the changing trends and drivers that are shaping the external environment.

The knowledge of surface technology will ensure that our strategy will be future-oriented and able to adapt to a wider range of potential changes.

The task of the emerging technology team is to determine the tools and mechanisms that will enable us to perform this horizon scan in a systematic and robust manner.

The work to date includes:

Develop and test a strategic foresight approach to explore multiple possible future scenarios.

The pilot explored the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and promoted a more comprehensive dialogue among a range of stakeholders about the wider drivers of social, economic, and political change in the field and how they can be combined in different ways to influence the future . Sellafield Ltd.'s technology

The Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (RAI) program will use the resulting scenarios to help us form a long-term vision for this particular technology.

When the right technology already exists, this reduces our risk of developing expensive customized solutions.

Several technologies were identified through IdeaCatalog and then deployed to provide tangible benefits.

So far, dozens of technologies have been recommended through Drop Box, some of which have been selected for further exploration, while others have been highlighted throughout the network to increase awareness of their impact.

With the help of systematic horizon scanning methods, Sellafield Ltd is able to ensure the identification, development and application of the best available technology and information to support its mission.

In addition, the long-term nature of our ambitious mission requires us to understand, appreciate and adapt to the changing trends and drivers that are shaping the external environment.

Now in the third year, the Dragons' Den style competition has successfully allowed our employees' ideas to promote the innovation of the entire business.

Each year, the program aims to encourage creative thinking around specific topics, which are then judged by business leaders. Winners will get time and funds to develop and implement their ideas.

This year, we invite all employees to focus on improving the working environment, fulfilling our mission and handling waste more effectively. The winners will be announced in June 2020.

Antineutrino Ground Environmental Recording System (ANGELS)

Ian’s idea is to borrow technology from the field of particle physics to monitor radioactivity when it is well shielded by concrete or buried in the ground.

This can be done remotely, without the need for costly intrusive investigations or risk to workers.

The detector system depends on the properties of ghostly antineutrino particles. It is deployed in an independent physics laboratory behind the truck and was developed by the University of Liverpool.

Ian is working with them to prove that this idea gained support in Dragon Lair and the Game Changer Project when managing nuclear waste.

The plan aims to re-use or recycle our corporate apparel at the end of its life cycle to support our waste strategy and sustainable development goals.

Gavin works with stakeholders across the company to ensure that sustainability is considered at all stages of life, and uses placeholders to ensure that our next PPE contract includes sustainability principles when purchasing for the next tender.

Through discussions with facility managers and OneAIM, Gavin found that our daily use complies with the principles of sustainable development, including use and washing.

Jennie Stein-Deskspace AI application

Jennie's idea is to use an application to allow individuals to book mobile office and resources, and Dan suggests using artificial intelligence to optimize recommendations and book resources (desks, office days, etc.) for users based on their interactions in Microsoft Outlook.

Dan and Jennie are working together to integrate their submissions into future agile work plans.

Now in its 6th year, Game Changers continues to grow, providing a platform for excellence in innovation to solve the decommissioning challenges of Sellafield and the wider Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).

Managed by FIS360 Ltd and the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), the process is assisted by the newly formed Challenge Statement Steering Group, which works throughout the NDA to identify and prioritize projects suitable for game changers and improve the overall Plan the awareness of the nuclear sector.

In addition, the Game Changer Innovation Forum was launched to support the expansion and commercialization of technology, and to help develop the relationship between project partners and major stakeholders, including secondary companies, operators, site licensing companies, and investors And partners.

Another partner, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), also joined forces with Sellafield Ltd to find innovative solutions to their common challenges.

In 2020/21, there were 5 innovation appeals, which attracted 60 feasibility study applications:

Many projects subsequently received "proof-of-concept" funding, which was awarded after the feasibility phase, when the technology has been proven or prototypes are produced:

In addition, Game Changers continues to support projects that fully develop this technology, including:

The robotic mission challenge sprint was broadcast live to the stakeholders of NNL's Sellafield Ltd, and independent robotics experts were invited.

Robot payload deployment system from Resolve Robotics

Hyperspectral imaging for soil sample analysis

FIRMArm products of FIRMA Engineering (patent application number GB2101716.5)

As the head of IRT, Dr. Simon Malone has a wide range of responsibilities. His main responsibility is to oversee a series of diverse and extensive research projects, such as in-situ measurement, hydrogen detection, and all aspects of CM&I in the value stream

In addition, Simon manages multiple partners and monitors the risks and plans of research projects. He also worked with internal clients to develop new jobs, keep in touch with small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and university affiliates, and scan his vision for new developments.

Simon has a strong academic background. He studied applied chemistry in Bristol and then received a master's degree in analytical chemistry and a PhD in Raman spectroscopy from the University of East Anglia. Since then, he has worked as a postdoctoral researcher (PDRA) at the University of York and the University of Manchester, working under the guidance of Professor Sarah Heath, studying the crystallography of inorganic compounds, especially the citrate complexes of aluminum and iron.

Next, he entered the polymer industry and worked for Innovia Films in Wigerton for 10 years as a senior spectrographer, responsible for infrared spectroscopy, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), material testing, and many classic analyses technology.

Most of the responsibilities are developing and validating new measurement methods, reverse engineering and responding to customer complaints.

As a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Simon joined Sellafield Ltd in 2015. His important background in research and industry means that he is well suited for this role because he understands the issues related to developing innovative ideas and deploying them to the industrial sector Context.

I want to use my academic and private sector experience to bring different perspectives to the industry while maintaining a sense of pace to provide new and targeted R&D.

During his 20-year career, Dr. Sean Morgan has accumulated a wealth of expertise in various forms of waste disposal, and is responsible for the identification and development of new sealants to ensure that waste is fixed and passively safe.

As a researcher at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Sean also holds several other positions, including the head of the Flammable Gas Specialty Center, ensuring a consistent methodology for combustible gas assessments.

Sean, who oversees the Hydrogen Working Group, is also a contact at the University of Sheffield, the industrial director of several PhDs, and the co-chair of the Intermediate Waste (ILW) Packaging Development Group.

With a degree in materials engineering and a doctorate in glass production for fiber optic equipment, Sean joined BNFL in 1997 as a member of the high-temperature process group, which includes working in the United States for 18 months, managing the laboratory and pilot scale research of the Hanford vitrification project.

After returning to the UK, he worked at Inutec for 2 years, evaluating cemented waste forms and developing new waste packaging methods, and then transferred to Sellafield Ltd in 2010. Since then, Sean has gained extensive technical experience in SIXEP and SNM before entering the company.

As a result of a lot of effort, the alternative sealant he is developing now shows strong prospects, and he is about to conduct large-scale trials to verify that a higher waste load, more leaching resistance, and better fluidity can be achieved.

This work includes the first new sealant to receive RWM evaluation for Sellafield Ltd in 30 years.

Communication is a key aspect of any innovative project to ensure that its benefits and values ​​are properly understood.

The Spent Fuel Management (SFM) value stream is responsible for the safe, reliable and cost-effective life cycle management of spent nuclear fuel and related waste, including:

The irradiated nuclear fuel currently stored in Dounreay needs to be integrated at Sellafield so that Dounreay can reach its interim final state by 2032.

From 1960 to 1994, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL) operated two fast breeder research reactors, namely the Dounreay fast breeder reactor and the prototype fast breeder reactor.

During this period, these innovative programs produced a wide range of irradiated experimental fuels, including different sizes of uranium oxide, mixed oxide, metallic uranium, and carbide fuels.

Fast-breeding fuel, often referred to as "foreign fuel", is different from Magnox or advanced gas reactor fuel because it is exposed to higher levels of radiation in the reactor, withstands higher operating temperatures, and can have a higher degree of enrichment.

We are working with DSRL to conduct research to develop a temporary storage plan to solve this problem. Because of Dounreay's wide range of fuel types, this multi-year plan will require the identification of customized solutions, which include:

Through cooperation projects with Sellafield Ltd, NNL and DSRL, a detailed assessment of some fuel stocks has been completed to investigate the compatibility of fuel with existing self-shielded tanks (SSB).

This study shows that part of the irradiated fuel inventory can be safely stored in SSB for up to 50 years, without the need for a separate storage solution for this fuel type.

The camera lens inside the Dounreay fast reactor shows damage to the breeder element and roof (© DSRL)

The research program will provide safe storage of Dounreay irradiated fuel in Sellafield, awaiting the development of life cycle management solutions, including potential adjustments before storage in GDF.

The cooperation plan involves DSRL and a series of supply chain partners, and a storage plan is currently being developed for each fuel type.

Atkins, Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd (DSRL), National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (Nuclear AMRC), Magnox Ltd

Hannah PattersonTechnical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Since 1990, the Vitrified Products Warehouse (VPS) has been operating in Sellafield, which stores the immobilized high-reactivity waste generated during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.

Ensuring its structural integrity is essential to ensure the safe management of vitrified waste stainless steel containers until they can be transferred to a geological disposal facility (GDF).

As the Sellafield plant transitions from reprocessing to decommissioning, VPS will also store waste generated by POCO in facilities that process highly active waste.

In the Sellafield plan, provision has been made for the construction of an alternative store to ensure that vitrified waste continues to be stored safely before GDF is available.

Deciding when a facility might need to be replaced requires a long-term assessment of the integrity of the facility.

Due to the partnership with NNL, a solution was determined to allow remote inspection of tanks and ships in the VPS.

Their shared expertise was used to develop a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that can operate in a high-radiation environment to capture high-definition images of the interior of the store for use in determining the condition of assets.

The system is lowered by about 30m through the ventilation pipe to enter the vault floor, allowing visual inspection of key structural components that have not been seen since the construction and inactive commissioning.

A multidisciplinary team of corrosion and materials scientists, modelers, and structural experts reviewed the data collected from ROV inspections, together with the analysis of corrosion coupons, and data from the factory monitoring system and operating models to show that the store is in Good condition.

This novel remote inspection method has delayed the design and construction of alternative stores, allowing resources to be concentrated on other high-priority disaster mitigation activities.

ROV is used for visual inspection of stores.

Glassware shop asset management plan

The deployment of ROV provides high-quality images of key structural components and environmental data (temperature and dose rate), allowing assessment of the condition of the VPS and providing information for the future management of the store.

This allows the life of the store to be extended.

The asset status of the store has been confirmed, allowing the delay of investment in design and construction of alternatives.

Future inspections will support the continuous work of optimizing store management, and it is hoped that changing stores can be completely avoided.

Fiona Wright and Matthew Hagrid

As the site transitions from reprocessing to restoration, Sellafield's sewage treatment methods are undergoing fundamental changes.

For 30 years, the wastewater treatment process at the site has not changed, mainly the post-treatment activities of Magnox and the thermal oxide post-treatment plant (Thorp).

With the end of post-processing, the quantity, nature and variability of waste effluents have now undergone a radical change.

Research has been conducted, focusing on adjusting the Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant (EARP) to accept alternative waste streams from donor plants.

EARP currently receives iron-containing acidic wastewater and produces co-precipitation activity through neutralization with hydroxide, thereby generating clean wastewater for discharge into the ocean and ILW slurry for packaging.

Laboratory and rig-based experiments are being used to investigate whether the chemistry of the EARP system can be adapted to other waste streams, such as detergents, and to understand its potential operating capabilities.

Modeling tools have also been developed and validated based on test results to assess scenarios, predict potential operational difficulties and the impact on ocean emissions.

Although this work is ongoing, recommendations have been issued to potential donor plants to specify the amount of organic detergent that can be used and sent to EARP.

The treatment of other waste streams by EARP will be carried out in stages as the Magnox post-treatment is completed. This will require the addition of a small amount of iron to the EARP feed to replicate some of the Magnox effluent and ensure that the EARP process is effective, while generating a quarter of ILW waste for continued safe storage and disposal.

In the future, more information will be generated to support the acceptance of other waste streams that may allow the acceptance of effluents from the Highly Active Liquor (HAL) program, thereby achieving a gradual reduction in costs and required facilities.

The EARP rig in the Workington Rig Hall facility of the National Nuclear Laboratory

Flocs containing 0.2g/L iron increase with pH from left to right

Enhanced Actinide Removal Plant (EARP) Operation Plan

This work allows us to continue sewage treatment as the site transitions from reprocessing to remediation activities. Donor factories and treatment facilities are collaborating to develop future operational plans to repair risks, maintain sewage treatment capacity, reduce waste treatment costs, and minimize environmental impact.

The project is ongoing, and in the future, it will be investigated whether EARP can accept other waste streams, including effluents from the HAL program.

Dick Blackham and Bethann Walker technology.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The on-site ion exchange wastewater plant (SIXEP) uses sand filtration and ion exchange to treat water from fuel storage ponds and legacy recycling operations to remove cesium, strontium, and particulates before it is discharged into the sea.

SIXEP began operations in the 1980s, and the design life of the ion exchange vessel is 20 years.

However, now the demand for sewage treatment has been extended to around 2060, and it has been determined that the plant will not be able to last long enough due to the failure of certain assets.

The replacement SIXEP continuity plant will not be available until 2030, so research is underway to ensure the operating life of the existing SIXEP by:

When one of the ion exchange vessels is emptied and refilled every 3 months, internal inspections can be performed.

This has identified some damage to the internal vascular components, but due to the quality of the image, it is difficult to quantify the rate of change of damage.

Fortunately, since there is no need to operate through a gamma gate, high-definition cameras and laser scanning systems can be deployed on rigid poles.

This ensures consistent positioning from one inspection to the next and provides better quality images for detailed inspection of the welds on the ion exchange vessel.

This new inspection method is now in place and will be used to quantitatively measure any component movement or damage.

By simulating the process in the calculation model, the change of the control system was studied to minimize the cyclic stress of the plant. This provides a digital test bench for test control system settings and reduces historical flow changes.

As a result, the factory control system has been gradually implemented changes, which have proven that the flow rate changes have been significantly reduced.

Ion exchange container HD image

Minimizing the cyclic stress on the plant will increase the life of the SIXEP, while the regular quantitative measurement of the container will increase confidence in the integrity of the plant.

This proactive asset management approach increases confidence that the existing SIXEP will continue to operate until the replacement plant becomes available.

Now that the new quantitative inspection method has been successfully deployed, data will be collected and compared during each follow-up inspection to assess and monitor the continuous integrity of the ship.

Andrew Riley Technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Wastewater Treatment Plant (LAEMG) technical staff Bethann Walker completed an engineering degree during his apprenticeship at Sellafield.

This five-year degree apprenticeship program in collaboration with Gen2 and the University of Cumbria enables Bethann to study while working, and promises to obtain a bachelor's degree in plant engineering (nuclear plant and process technology) through a rigorous day-time release study program (Honours) degree at the University of Cumbria, while contributing as a member of the Magnox Reprocessing and Wastewater Treatment Plant (MR&EP) technical team.

Her final year degree program involved evaluating the requirements, risks, and processes involved in transferring barrels from a waste packaging and packaging plant (WPEP) warehouse to an engineered barrel warehouse (EDS) to make much needed space.

This requires understanding and paying attention to radiation levels and safety requirements while coordinating logistics work, which is essential to facilitate the start and delivery of other projects.

At the same time, Bethann has also contributed to the improvement of the WPEP process, which will reduce costs and increase the efficiency of the packaging process.

I am very happy to have the opportunity to get my degree while working at Sellafield, because I benefit from being able to apply my website experience to my studies and vice versa. I like to see the impact of the work I am doing.

Hannah, a spent fuel technology manager with a chemistry academic background, said that she entered the industry almost accidentally, but since completing the nuclear graduate program in 2016, she has never looked back.

Throughout her various careers, Hannah has managed a large number of R&D and test bench activities to support our high-risk reduction tasks in high-level waste.

Before starting her current role in the spent fuel service strategy and technical team, she was also seconded to NDA as the National Waste Inventory Manager for 18 months.

She describes each day as different, supporting the project and planning team, but her main responsibility is to manage the technical plan for the temporary storage of irradiated fuel that should be received from Dounreay, and to develop a strategy for how to manage the fuel.

Because experimental reactor fuel is exposed to a wider range of conditions in fast breeder reactors, most of this fuel is different in composition from current fuels stored on-site.

As an RSC chartered chemist, Hannah still has the opportunity to collaborate with other organizations and share ideas about the challenges of storing different fuels, focusing on safety and innovation. Hannah is also keen to encourage others to join the nuclear industry and is the chairman of YGN of the Nuclear Research Institute in 2021.

At the same time, Hannah's current priority is to meet her colleagues in Dounreay face-to-face for the first time in 18 months. She believes that this meeting will achieve results by focusing on thinking in the real world instead of the virtual world.

I love the unique challenges I face at Sellafield, and I am proud to be able to clean up our nuclear heritage for future generations.

SIXEP technical consultant Georgina (Gina) Vickers joined Sellafield Ltd in 2019 to participate in the postgraduate training program. Since then, she has seized every opportunity.

The postgraduate training program designed to provide experience in various disciplines enables Gina to have a deep understanding of the corporate management aspects of external affairs business and work in the system engineering team of SIXEP, where great ideas are transformed into actual changes in the factory.

As part of a degree in chemical engineering at the University of Manchester, Gina was keen to join Sellafield's team after completing an industrial internship in Risley's office to study ways to empty the historic waste in the SIXEP store.

Her current work involves exploring how to extend the life of aging SIXEP facilities: including improving inspection methods to understand the risk of failure, and how to repair the factory when problems occur, and evaluating innovative repair techniques, such as molten metal spraying.

The technology has not yet been used in the nuclear industry, so the results of the ongoing remote tests are eagerly awaited.

In addition to daily work, as a STEM ambassador and school principal, Gina also guides and supports students who are interested in exploring similar career paths by providing advice and preparing mock interviews.

I like the practical aspect of working on-site at Sellafield. It's great to be given responsibility when working on a project and see things get results.

The Special Nuclear Material (SNM) value stream is responsible for the safe, reliable and proper storage of special nuclear materials. Its R&D plan focuses on:

A special nuclear material (SNM) packaging monitoring program is needed to understand how plutonium oxide (PuO2) and its packaging age during long-term storage.

This work can only be done through selective destructive testing of plutonium packages.

This plays a vital role in reducing the technical risks of the package life cycle in the multi-billion pound SNM product portfolio and will inform Sellafield products and the strategic tolerance for deliveries at the Residue Storage Reprocessing Plant (SRP).

NNL's package characterization facility received the first soldered Magnox package in 2017. Since then, more than 20 Magnox soldered packages have been characterized by gas composition and PuO2 characteristics, and detailed metallurgical characterization of package components has begun.

The age of Magnox packages ranges from 6 months to 43 years old, but despite the presence of alpha-decayed helium from PuO2, they are all at sub-atmospheric pressure.

In March 2021, after developing a transportation route from Thorp SNM store to NNL and implementing a new safety case project, the first Thorp package was delivered to the NNL factory.

Compared with the Magnox package, the delivery of the Thorp package is more challenging because of its higher heat and greater dose challenges in handling.

The first Thorp package was punctured in the NNL facility, and the lost gas was sampled and analyzed. No hydrogen or oxygen was detected. The volatile content was measured by heating loss, powder specific surface area, X-ray powder diffraction and thermogravimetric analysis to characterize the package contents.

Samples were also collected in the free science program for additional characterization.

Finally, the material is heat treated to measure the quality change during the furnace cycle, then welded to a new package for storage, and then transferred to the Sellafield SNM store.

The can parts are reduced, installed, ground and polished to achieve detailed metallurgical features.

Now the NNL facility can handle Thorp packages, which will allow more detailed package characterization to understand the impact on package life, including helium evolution rate and component corrosion.

Thorp package inner jar and package contents

Understanding and characterizing how plutonium oxide and its packaging age during long-term storage will ensure that the material is stored safely during the life of the packaging until it can be reprocessed and/or repackaged in SRP.

The plan will last until at least 2028, when the SRP will be put into use. The NNL facility will continue to check current package types as they will continue to age and the capacity will be expanded to receive other materials and package types.

Jeff Hobbs, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Plutonium, mainly in the form of plutonium oxide (PuO2) powder, is currently stored in airtight packaging at the Sellafield site, some of which have been used for nearly 50 years.

During this period, the chemical properties of PuO2 have been evolving, driven by the radioactive decay of plutonium to uranium and americium progeny and the production of helium.

In order to inform the current and future safe storage of plutonium oxide, it is necessary to understand the effect of radioactive decay on the chemical stability of the PuO2 matrix, as well as its ability to retain gas and change its oxidation state.

Therefore, we supported a Ph.D. project, which is now in its second year, using density functional theory (DFT) to analyze and simulate the evolution of stored plutonium oxide.

The project is part of the TRANSCEND alliance, a collaborative project with Lancaster University and University College London.

The chemical modeling of actinides is technically challenging. However, Lancaster University has developed a customized combination of DFT analysis and empirical techniques that can accurately reproduce the available experimental values.

This makes it possible to identify the chemical form of the PuO2 matrix under a range of oxygen concentrations and determine how americium ingrowth and helium interfere with it.

Graphical representation of a plutonium oxide matrix containing americium bodies occupying the positions of the plutonium atoms

The results and findings were recently published in 2 leading international journals.

Understanding any potential factors that may affect the oxidation state of plutonium is vital information. In the long run, its storage will provide information for future disposal plans.

Analyze the evolution of stored PuO2 through DFT

This doctoral study will minimize and focus future experimental work on plutonium evolution, which will reduce risks, costs and time for operators and researchers.

The PhD is in progress, and the next step is to study surface effects.

Helen Steele, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The mission of the SNM innovation team is to provide new technologies, processes and facilities for the SNM value stream to improve the safety, accuracy and efficiency of current operations, or to conduct new operations.

So far, it has achieved success in the following areas:

A key goal of the SNM R&D program is the long-term integrity and safe storage of packages containing special nuclear materials. One important factor is to understand how they will evolve over time.

Innovative solutions not only solve the can design and its long-term performance issues, but also develop technologies that enable packaging to monitor itself, as well as technologies that monitor surface defects and changes in the store environment.

Having a pre-built, mobile, and modular store will significantly reduce response time.

The preliminary concept study has been completed, demonstrating the potential benefits of reducing operator dose risk and increasing productivity, allowing more time for detailed can inspections. A model of a real store was built in the NNL laboratory in Workington to test the automated store system

This will enable training to be carried out safely and in the future can be used to simulate temporary operations to test runs and practice new operations. Tannahill Reay Visual Communications is currently developing the design of the VR store application.

This will be able to assess the degree of corrosion to quantify the life of the SPRS reasonably and accurately. The enhanced prototype system is currently passing the CE (or British equivalent) mark to enable it to be used in the factory.

Simulate store layout to test automated store system

Simulate store layout to test automated store system

For more information, please contact Paul Mort via email Technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Over the years, the glove box has been used at the Sellafield plant for various purposes, such as research and development, analysis, and more general operational activities.

In order to support the continued safe operation of the glove box, we are taking several measures to improve efficiency and protect operators:

Modified off-the-shelf (MOTS) vacuum cleaners have been tried and tested, and from there, the first five systems were used to deal with the high activity of plutonium oxide left in the glove box

Head-up display (HUD)-To overcome the limitations of wearing a respirator while working on the glove box, Tannahill Reay Visual Communications is testing a new design that includes an on-screen head-up display. It will allow operators to see any relevant instructions on the screen without having to retract their hands to access paper documents

3D Scanner for Glove Box – Choosing a 3D scanner, it will be able to complete 3D scanning of the inside of the glove box and generate 3D CAD geometry. The model can then be used to support the RrOBO project and develop a glove box database for the Sellafield site

ORA Welder-French manufacturer-The ORA Company has developed a plan to ensure an alternative technology for sealing polyvinyl chloride (PVC), which is used to bag SNM containers from glove boxes

Now I have purchased two ORA welding machines, one is calibrated for PVC and the other is calibrated for polyurethane. They are cheaper, easier to use and reduce the operator’s risk. They have been purchased and accepted. Training.

In addition, SNM members designed and built a web application called Sellafield Plutonium Application for the Retention of Knowledge (SPARK).

It provides the basic knowledge for new starters of SNM and has become part of the Alpha Resilience and Capability (ARC) program in the UK, capable of retaining knowledge about plutonium and storing it for use by future operators.

A clear understanding of the early characteristics of asset conditions has the potential to significantly benefit POCO and decommissioning operations.

As of now, no comprehensive assessment of assets has been carried out. To bridge this gap, the SNM technical team is working closely with the operations support department to review the condition of packages in the store and the store itself.

By accurately characterizing the facility and its contents, the risk and uncertainty of transferring packages to SRP facilities can be reduced. This work will allow for the development of optimized transportation plans, reduce rework and better estimate the allowable safe storage time.

In addition to the proven technology, the SNM technical team is also developing new technologies to improve accessibility, image quality, lighting and training standardization.

The Magnox and Thorp packaging cans reliability test program is conducted off-site to ensure that the outer cans meet their design requirements; some outer cans have undergone destruction tests to understand their limits.

It is essential to ensure that all packaging operates safely under normal storage conditions, especially during an incident.

Before the test, the SNM technical team inspected each outer can and packaging to confirm that each outer can and packaging was manufactured in accordance with the required standards.

They must be accurately recorded and recorded to track the conditions required for continuous safe storage, for example, to compare the metallurgical properties of the weld with the pressure resistance and drop resistance.

At present, the inspection of outer cans is carried out by checking one package by one on the screen.

Having researched a new new machine learning method to automatically evaluate and interpret inspection videos, Cerberus Nuclear and NNL are exploring techniques to make the team’s review work faster and less error-prone.

Neural networks and learning algorithms have made great progress, and the team is preparing to evaluate the quality of storage packages with computers.

Check the lid position before testing

Special nuclear material (SNM) packaging inspection and characterization

Improving the characteristics and inspection of packaging will ensure proper understanding of packaging functions and performance, minimize storage risks, and quickly identify any issues affecting future shipments.

This work is in progress, and the next step will be to experiment with can inspection machine learning algorithms and use the results of the can credibility test to review safe storage safety cases.

Cavendish Nuclear, Cerberus Nuclear, National Nuclear Laboratory

Mark Greaves, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

As the technical manager of the SNM project, Dr. Jeff Hobbs is responsible for evaluating the technical requirements related to the long-term storage of Sellafield's plutonium. This involves managing a small team, supporting their development and technically leading a wide range of projects.

This year was the climax of the solder package characterization work, and Jeff supported this work from the original functional specification.

This provides a way to evaluate the contents of Magnox and Thorp packages to characterize long-term storage behavior. The next stage is to look at the characteristics of the residue packaging.

Jeff studied chemistry at the University of Nottingham and then received a PhD in inorganic chemistry, studying chemicals that corrode fast reactor fuel rods. From there, he joined the BNFL research and technology team in 1993 as part of an advanced post-processing program to improve the plutonium finishing (conversion of nitrate to oxide) methods.

In order to provide more practical support, Jeff moved to the Magnox reprocessing plant in Sellafield in 2000, responsible for the separation, finishing and storage of plutonium and uranium, and then specialized in plutonium storage.

As a member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Jeff's expertise in plutonium storage allows him to directly focus on project and program support for finishing and long-term storage areas. In 2009, he actively promoted the operation and launch of SPRS, which he called “satisfied with seeing the transition from construction to operation”.

He is now part of the team planning the SPRS Reprocessing Plant (SRP), which will repackage the plutonium material for long-term storage.

It is really satisfying to see the project completed and the knowledge passed to the next generation.

Ellie Ford joined the SNM technical team in 2017 as part of the Gen2 degree apprenticeship program and will receive a bachelor's degree in plant engineering (nuclear plant and process technology) from the University of Cumbria in December 2021.

This five-year apprenticeship program allows Ellie to continue working at Sellafield while studying for a degree, with one day a week for courses and tuition.

A 3-year basic course, followed by a 2-year degree course, gave Ellie a broad understanding of her field, and she was able to make good use of this knowledge to develop prototype equipment to improve the package in the store, as Part of her final year project.

The equipment will install a series of cameras at fixed locations around the package to provide consistent and omni-directional images to improve inspection quality and achieve digital image processing.

The prototype has been successfully tested in the workshop, and plans for future inactive and active trials are being made.

Ellie's focus this year is to lead the SNM-North package inspection program, which aims to complete the annual inspection target.

The current equipment has recognized deficiencies, and Ellie is supporting ongoing work to improve inspection capabilities and provide better packaging data to support ongoing verification.

As an active member of the Nuclear Research Institute (NI), Ellie also serves as a volunteer in the Cumbria branch and serves as the head of STEM, which involves arranging and supporting STEM activities in the local community.

I want to make what we are doing better, and look forward to seeing my project being used to improve offsite inspections.

The Retrievals value stream mission is to reduce the hazards and risks of nuclear waste stored in legacy ponds and silos by recycling and transferring it to a safe modern containment.

Waste is highly heterogeneous and has been stored under non-ideal conditions for decades, making it difficult to characterize and recycle.

The focus of the R&D plan is:

The waste stored in the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS) facility is recycled and packaged in MSSS 3m3 boxes for temporary storage in an unconditional form. A 3m3 box with lid containing waste is placed in an internal hopper located on a concrete embankment, which provides multiple containment barriers.

These will be temporarily stored in Package Product Storage 3 (EPS3) or Box Package Factory Product Storage (BEPPS).

The project investigated how the corrosion behavior and thermal conductivity of residual active metals in the sludge change as it dries out during storage, and how changes in thermal conductivity affect the heat dissipation of the package.

These factors will affect the safe storage box and ensure that potential adverse reactions will not occur during storage.

A novel experimental technique in which an equilibrium vapor pressure is applied around the corroded Magnox sludge (CMS). The CMS Magnox sample is used to obtain an appropriate relative humidity for the corrosion experiment to obtain a balanced pore water content of the sludge.

The relative thermal conductivity indicates the rate at which the heat generated by the corrosion rate can be taken away, preventing heat accumulation and a potential increase in the reaction rate.

This indicates that the previously assumed thermal conductivity of the CMS is pessimistic and provides additional confidence in the stated margin.

This research deepens the understanding of how saturation affects Magnox corrosion, helping to demonstrate and support higher waste loadings, skip filling optimization, and increase confidence in safe storage tanks.

The next step in this work is to implement the results into a technical baseline to support skip fill optimization and improve predictive waste evolution models.

The second phase of this work is planned to further support the new data by filling in the remaining gaps and studying the equivalent behavior in the uranium metal system sludge drying process.

Scanning electron micrograph of the corroded Magnox sludge sample used

Magnox corrosion in MSSS 3m3 box during unconditional storage

This work facilitated MSSS skip filling optimization to maximize waste loading and reduce the number of MSSS 3m3 boxes in use, thereby increasing confidence in the value declared in the safe storage box.

It also demonstrates to regulators and our stakeholders a commitment to continue to learn and improve key technical assumptions, strengthen positions and quantify residual risks.

This phase of work (Magnox corrosion) has been completed, and the next phase (uranium corrosion) is currently underway to further support the hypothesis and help further optimization.

Stephen Farris, John Clifford and Andrew Diggle, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

In order to ensure that atmospheric conditions are unlikely to damage the long-term resistance of the box, a life cycle CM&I strategy was implemented to monitor the salt deposition of the 3 cubic meter box during manufacturing, short-term storage and assembly, and storage as waste.

In December 2019, 15 cm × 15 cm salt deposition plates were installed in five locations from the entrance of the box to the storage area, representing different environments.

The deposition plate is made of Duplex 2205 and serves as a proxy for the surface of the box. The salt deposition measurement was performed in July 2020 and December 2020 using the Elcometer 130 salt pollution meter.

The initial one-year baseline period has now been completed. The measured salt deposition rate is very low, ranging from 0.02 μg/cm²/month (in the main library) to 0.36 μg/cm²/month (import/export route).

Higher readings are related to areas closer to the external environment. Based on the worst-case assumptions and the acceptance criteria of the box manufacturer, an action level of 1.5 μg/cm2/month has been proposed for the salt deposition rate in the store.

The deposition rate measured in the reservoir is far from the action limit, so the risk of salt deposition is considered negligible.

Before placing the MSSS 3m3 box (empty baseline) and after (filling), salt deposition measurements will also be taken in the store to check their effect on the long-term deposition rate.

These measurements will be taken from corrosion samples and deposition plates deployed by roof plugs, and long-term measurements will be obtained from swabs during off-site box inspections.

Instead of using a fixed inspection system, each corrosion and salt deposition result of one store is used to inform other stores of the required inspection frequency, which depends on the packaging and mechanism of each store.

This will provide agent packaging corrosion behavior before the offsite inspection is available.

Sintered mesh filter is the 3m3 box material that is most susceptible to chloride corrosion. The point where corrosion may begin is under investigation, and since March 2019, the filter material has been installed on the atmospheric exposure test frame.

These test frameworks and future corrosion of fresh samples begin to link salt content to corrosion and apply the results to storage conditions.

The resulting time scale will not only tell whether corrosion is predicted for the life of the store, but also whether the function of the filter will be retained if corrosion occurs.

CW&LF box storage area with deposition plate installed

Package Product Store 3 and Box Package and Product Store-Coupon Tree Arrangement

Sintered mesh filter material at the beginning

On-site monitoring of waste packages

This work has confirmed that the risk of salt deposition is negligible and has ensured the care and management of lifetime waste packaging.

Salt deposition monitoring is ongoing and will track the accumulation of salt during store operations. Work related to salt deposits in the store and connections with the potential for filter corrosion are ongoing.

Charlotte Jackson, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

In the past year, it has been pushing to continue to develop the technology to perform CM&I of large waste containers in its vault (in-situ).

Those evaluated as potentially suitable for monitoring how waste packages evolve during their storage life include: color cameras and better lighting, thermal imaging,

Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), Acoustic Monitoring, an instrumentation used for close inspection and distance-resolving hydrogen monitoring by deploying between stacks of waste packages to identify packages of interest for further inspection.

The key requirement of CM&I is to be able to view the overall condition of all packages and package stacks, to be able to identify markings or damage on the outer surface of the package, to check the physical condition of the filters installed on the package and to determine the package identification number.

A particular area with clear advantages is image enhancement, where software is used to enhance closed-circuit television (CCTV) images provided by existing cameras in the ILW store.

As part of the Game Changers program (page 17), the University of Strathclyde has been evaluating several powerful techniques that can be used without requiring large data sets or analysis time.

The software that has been developed can provide real-time image enhancement of camera input or allow further offline analysis.

The software runs on a desktop computer via a video feed from the camera system in the vault, and is being developed in parallel with the camera and lighting system requirements.

Software tools are currently being evaluated at the factory to investigate:

This may be widely used in the old closed-circuit television service activity area in the NDA estate.

The image is a random frame from CCTV

Comparison of original frame (top left), method one enhanced frame (top right), method two enhanced frame (bottom left), method three enhanced frame (bottom right).

On-site monitoring of waste packages

CM&I needs to provide continuous assurance that the waste package is developing in accordance with the technical baseline, and the technical and strategic assumptions supporting safe storage cases and one-time cases are still valid.

Image enhancement will be able to more effectively monitor the general physical condition and identification number of the package, thereby significantly reducing the time required by the operator.

Expected future work is ongoing. The key technologies have been determined and evaluated, and the functional specifications of crane installation equipment are being prepared to continue the evaluation of emerging technologies.

Strathclyde University, a game changer

Alex Allen, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Offsite condition monitoring and inspection (monitoring the packaging after removal from the store) will be used to confirm whether the waste packaging is operating as expected by routine sampling of the packaging or by monitoring the specific packaging determined by the on-site CM&I.

Due to space and movement restrictions, remote CM&I will provide higher quality information, but it has more restrictions than in-situ CM&I.

The key requirements of CM&I are to be able to view the overall general condition of the package, determine its identification number, identify markings or damage on the outer surface, check the physical condition and performance of the installed filter, establish the exhaust gas as a guide for the evolution of waste, and view the waste Inside the bag to confirm the waste and water level.

A specific research area this year is the development of prototype filter performance and gas analysis test tools. This is thanks to the development of a manually deployable version to monitor the filter on the SSB, which will be used for temporary storage of fuel and waste from Sellafield’s old pond while it is pending.

The SSB filter tester uses a fixed volume of pressurized gas to determine if there is any degradation during temporary storage. Laboratory tests have shown that the filter tester can conservatively detect whether the filter is clogged.

This information can be determined during temporary storage to prove that the package is being stored safely.

The next step is to evaluate whether the filter tester can also measure the drop in filter performance.

Based on these successful results, the filter tester has been converted to remote deployment (via a robotic arm) to a larger filter. This test evaluates filter performance by applying a small pressure (positive/negative/diffusion rate) on the filter.

It also includes the ability to sample the gas (such as hydrogen) in the container to show how the waste evolves throughout the temporary storage process.

This remotely deployed filter testing equipment will be able to perform remote testing without risking operators. This will ensure that an explosive atmosphere does not form inside the packaging and the filter will continue to operate as expected.

Schematic diagram of filter performance test system.

Schematic diagram of test head

Prototype filter pressure test head-deployed on a single filter, the box rotates to test each filter in turn.

Development of off-site monitoring of waste packages

Offsite filter performance and gas analysis testing will continue to ensure that the development of waste packages meets the technical baseline, and will reduce the operator’s risk through the use of remote deployment.

This will ensure that the technical and strategic assumptions supporting secure storage cases and one-off cases remain valid.

Work is underway, and the next step is to evaluate the performance of the filter test and hydrogen monitoring prototype to determine the most suitable gas analysis instrument.

National Nuclear Laboratory, REACT Project, RED Project, University of Bristol

Alex Allen, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites

In collaboration with NDA and Radioactive Waste Management (RWM), a large-scale work plan is underway to evaluate the life cycle management options for metal uranium fuel and the impact of these options on the GDF concept design and our strategy.

The purpose of the plan is to find the best way to regulate and dispose of all metal uranium fuels (total stocks exceeding 500 tons) as efficiently and safely as possible.

The opportunity to treat the material as low heat-generating waste (LHGW) has been determined

Heat-generating waste, which will minimize the number and complexity of management steps required, and possibly reduce the amount of primary and secondary waste.

The current strategy is to use SSB as a buffer storage container, which supports rapid risk reduction and allows time to develop lifecycle management opportunities.

Using the LHGW waste management route identified two reliable options:

Work has been carried out to evaluate the feasibility of using SSB as a disposal container and the impact of increasing SSB buffer storage time through waste evolution assessment.

This will help determine whether the LHGW disposal is acceptable, and will provide additional time to develop a disposal plan and GDF conceptual design case.

The development of fuel disposal options will provide information for life cycle analysis and will determine the potential benefits of changing management strategies for this difficult waste feed. By working closely with RWM, we can determine whether these options provide overall benefits for the NDA.

Schematic diagram of self-shielding box

This project has the potential to significantly reduce fuel disposal costs by reducing the number of waste containers sent to GDF. As a result, the amount of secondary waste may be much smaller, which in turn will reduce non-nuclear environmental emissions and reduce the risks to worker health and safety.

In addition, it will enable existing buffer storage and processing infrastructure to be used with associated costs and sustainability benefits.

Working with RWM to review GDF operations and post-closure issues through modeling to support waste evolution and waste package performance.

Radioactive Waste Management, Nuclear Decommissioning Administration, NSG Environment Co., Ltd., National Nuclear Laboratory, REACT Project

Nick Atherton, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The recovery of solid radioactive waste from Sellafield's old wet storage silos will produce wastewater. Before being discharged into the sea, it must be treated in the SIXEP sewage treatment plant.

Recycling sludge waste may release a large amount of slowly settling radioactive particles that cannot be processed. This will stop the operation.

Settling aids are chemicals widely used in the water treatment industry to promote particle aggregation and sedimentation. The research and development process to evaluate the performance and applicability of the sedimentation aid was completed in two stages and lasted more than 3 years.

The first stage is to identify products that effectively promote settlement. A series of commercially available chemicals were screened on inactive simulated materials, and effective chemicals were further tested to determine the required concentration.

The second stage of the test is to prove that the sedimentation aid has no adverse effects on sewage treatment or sludge recovery and disposal.

This research and development program has proven the benefits and applicability of using sedimentation aids to minimize downtime in retrieval operations, and work to deploy them to the factory is underway.

Test of sedimentation aid after 24 hours: Left cylinder-control (no sedimentation aid). The middle cylinder-effective metering of the right cylinder-partial settlement/over metering.

If the process of recycling waste increases the level of radioactive particles in the effluent beyond what can be handled by the SIXEP wastewater treatment plant, the sedimentation aid provides an option to maintain hazard reduction operations.

If the effluent cannot be processed, the operation stops; it may last for several weeks. Continuing operations means continuing to perform tasks to reduce hazards and risks, and can avoid the cost of more than £1 million per week due to cessation of operations.

It has been decided to deploy subsidence auxiliary equipment, and engineering projects have been initiated to install the required plant renovations. This received additional R&D support to support the plant design.

Bruce Rigby, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The nuclear waste stored in the legacy fuel storage pool is currently being recycled and transferred to a safe modern containment for long-term storage before disposal.

The remaining ponds are open to the atmosphere and are affected by seasonal algae growth that lasts for several weeks.

These have led to reduced visibility and in recent years have reduced the number of days available for waste recycling operations.

The task is to determine the types of microorganisms that cause flowering to understand how to effectively control them. The goal is to establish the ability to analyze pond water samples on a regular basis.

The first challenge is to extract DNA from organisms present in radioactive pond water in an active laboratory on site.

The extracted materials are then transferred to academic laboratories for sequencing. The species was determined by comparison with published databases.

This is done through a PhD program. DNA extraction capabilities are transferred to the industry through post-doctoral research projects, and researchers spend time working in the field.

From 2018 to 2020, the use of commercial ultrasonic transmitters effectively controlled the visibility. However, by 2021, this will no longer be valid.

Applying this technique to pond water samples collected during the blooming period finally proved that the dominant species that existed have changed.

This indicates that more sensitive control strategies are needed to maintain the visibility of the pond based on the knowledge of the microbial community.

Strong bloom, no visibility in the depths

Clear visibility of pond inventory

Every day of operation that is stopped due to low visibility will delay the reduction of hazards and risks in the old facility and incur a cost of approximately £50,000.

Routine sampling has been performed to determine the main microbial species present in the remaining pond.

The next stage of the project is to upgrade the control strategy to make the system more responsive to changes in pond flora and maintain visibility in the pond for retrieval operations.

The technology is being promoted in other open fuel storage pools at the Sellafield site.

EPSRC, National Nuclear Laboratory and University of Manchester

Peter Jenkinson, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Technologist James Hawco studied applied chemistry at the University of Strathclyde majoring in chemical engineering, and then joined the two-year nuclear energy graduate program sponsored by Sellafield Ltd..

The Nuclear Energy Graduate Program gave James the opportunity to try many different roles in the nuclear industry, including spending time with Sellafield Ltd, Arup, Magnox Berkeley, and NNB GenCo to support Hinkley Point C.

After successfully completing the program, James joined the search team in September 2020.

Here, his work focuses on two different areas: high-reactive waste and effluent modeling and flow chart temporary storage solutions.

Both of these areas provide a certain degree of diversity, ranging from safety assessment of fuel in storage containers, consideration of safety measures and condition monitoring and inspection requirements, to simulation of effluent flow to predict requirements and better planning and fetching. Back to the plan.

James is currently obtaining a concession at the School of Chemical Engineering. In the past year, he was able to apply innovative thinking to his work, studying digital models of sewage flows on-site to determine and find solutions to problems.

He was also able to work closely with the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) to advance wastewater modeling work.

Participating in the development of innovative solutions to Sellafield's unique challenges is exciting.

During his impressive 60-year career, technical expert Ian Stokes has witnessed the development and growth of the Sellafield plant.

Ian has unique and unparalleled knowledge of Sellafield's ILW characteristics and wastewater treatment.

He participated in sampling to characterize samples of active Magnox chips collected on the way from FGMSP to MSSS. He is also involved in similar work on samples collected from MSSS to support waste recycling and process development.

Therefore, since 1980, he has played an indispensable role in the multiple changes in the MSSS retrieval and treatment process.

Ian's extensive insights into MSSS factories are invaluable in supporting current search activities. For example, his expertise in the type and amount of material brought into MSSS is critical to understanding and evaluating how it might affect retrieval operations.

His career in the nuclear industry began in 1960 at UKAEA in Harwell as a technician while studying chemistry in a one-day release program. In Harwell, Ian conducted a small-scale activity test using FGMSP discharge fluid to select ion exchange materials suitable for the SIXEP plant.

He also operated two pilot plants for the development and validation of the SIXEP process, which is still operating as predicted.

In order to continue his work in waste disposal, Ian moved to Sellafield Ltd (formerly Windscale) in 1980. Since then, he has been engaged in various aspects of waste treatment and sludge treatment, including active testing of the Magnox chip packaging process currently in use for the Magnox Packaging Plant (MEP).

It is important that we learn from the past so that we can solve current problems instead of trying to reinvent the wheel.

Bruce Rigby has worked on both the supply chain and Sellafield Ltd's "both sides of the fence", and he has extensive experience to share with his colleagues and wider companies.

Holds a degree in environmental chemistry from the University of Leeds and a master degree in geochemistry from Newcastle University,

Bruce joined NNL's postgraduate training program for the first time in 2009, engaged in contaminated land and waste assessment, and then worked in the sewage and environmental chemistry team for 2 years, providing R&D research projects for various clients, including SIXEP and Sellafield Ltd and the British nuclear industry FGMSP plans elsewhere.

He then transferred to Sellafield Ltd in 2013 to join the FGMSP program technical team during the upgrade of the facility and the transition to regular solid waste recycling operations.

After the two projects were merged, this role was subsequently extended to the second legacy pool.

Bruce now manages the recycling wastewater chemistry team and is responsible for coordinating the wastewater R&D portfolio, which covers research plans consistent with legacy ponds and legacy silos.

The focus of the research is to develop a water-containing waste management method that strikes a balance between high hazards and risk reduction and overall BAT and ALARP.

He likes to cooperate with colleagues in the entire enterprise and supply chain to provide effective solutions for the enterprise.

It is great to work with like-minded people who believe in our mission and are proud of their work.

The Repair Value Stream is responsible for cleaning up nuclear and non-nuclear facilities at the Sellafield site. Its R&D plan focuses on:

The repair capability development team is responsible for identifying new technologies, supporting supply chain innovation, developing and industrializing technologies and technologies, and providing active demonstrations of technologies, systems and facilities.

This is achieved through a structured R&D strategy for each project area (Alpha, Beta Gamma, and waste).

"Curieosity" is a ground robot platform developed in cooperation with our Radiation Measurement System Group (RSG) team and RED Engineering.

The platform is an improved off-the-shelf "Jackal" ROV from Clearpath Robotics, and the payload is usually a VCADS radiation measurement system, developed by RSG and installed on a pan/tilt device.

The purpose of the system is to deploy improved characterization tools in hard-to-reach areas or where employees are at risk of high levels of radiation.

Its design allows easy integration of alternative measurement tools, and ROV can bypass small obstacles via tethered communication to avoid wireless problems.

The platform was deployed in the Remediation Active Demonstration environment at the Sellafield site in May 2021.

Curieosity first drove around the maintenance corridors of the factory to determine the areas of most interest based on the increased dose rate readings.

An automatic VCADS scan is then performed to identify the source of the elevated readings and processed in situ to produce a visual representation of the hot spot.

The demonstration was successful, proving that the platform can remotely characterize the factory area in an effective way, providing more detailed radiation measurement information than standard surveys.

The results of "Wide Scan" (1.) and "Narrow Scan" (2.) indicate where the readings rise. This level of data post-processing can be implemented on-site, providing immediate feedback to the operator.

The results of "Wide Scan" (1.) and "Narrow Scan" (2.) indicate where the readings rise. This level of data post-processing can be implemented on-site, providing immediate feedback to the operator.

The curiosity ground robot is deployed in the active environment.

The waste under one of the displayed cells as seen from the VCADS camera

The system provides internal deployment of sensors and the ability to collect characteristic information remotely, without requiring personnel to enter dangerous environments.

The system can now be deployed throughout the site, reducing the need for people to enter hazardous environments.

Radiometric Systems Group of RED Engineering Ltd, Sellafield Ltd

Eryk Ryzko or Graeme Rhodes, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The Sellafield site is currently limited by its limited options for handling and storing large ILW items.

Therefore, there is a need to reduce the size of ILW-contaminated items (such as traditional Magnox hoppers) to maximize the packaging efficiency of waste sent to more active storage facilities.

The SSRF active demonstrator will use a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) industrial robot system to automatically reduce and repack the traditional Magnox hopper.

The project builds on the experience of Hinkley Point's automated robotic laser cutting module system to reduce Sellafield's development time. The system can automatically cut and pack 2 hoppers to fill a third.

An active demonstration phase will be carried out to achieve the pre-defined learning goals and enable future decisions about capabilities.

SSRF schematic design

Images of inactive trials in the facility

Images of inactive trials in the facility

SSRF will try to remove human operators from the nuclear and conventional hazards associated with the reduction and packaging of intermediate-level polluted waste.

Shrinking and packing the hopper in this way can reduce the amount of waste by 2/3, which is conducive to temporary storage arrangements.

The project is underway, and active trials are planned from 2021 to 2023.

Integrated Decommissioning Solutions (IDS), Cyan Tec Systems Ltd., Lasermet Ltd., Taylor Kightley Engineering Ltd.

James Moore, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

As part of the site cleanup plan, the glove box used for research, development and operations has been scrapped.

Many of these are contaminated with alpha-containing materials, and current decommissioning plans include manual techniques, which are often dangerous and time-consuming.

There is a driving factor to use alternative technologies to provide safer and more effective decommissioning at a lower cost to meet this challenge.

A facility to reduce the size of the glove box was built in the existing laboratory at the Sellafield base. This independent laser cutting device will reduce the operator's risk when remotely reducing the size of an alpha-contaminated glove box.

This includes a laser cutting system mounted on a six-degree-of-freedom robotic arm that can recycle waste and minimize manual intervention.

The inactive trial has now been completed, and an active trial is planned for early 2022.

An active demonstration phase will be carried out to achieve the pre-defined learning goals and enable future decisions about capabilities.

The AAD project will decide whether to scale up and build a central decomposition facility, or whether another engineering drum shop or waste treatment complex is needed to accommodate the additional waste generated by the decommissioning of alpha-contaminated glove boxes.

Images of inactive trials in the facility

Images of inactive trials in the facility

The project aims to develop a safer semi-remote process for reducing the size of alpha-contaminated items, which is more effective than manual operations.

Once the technology is validated and optimized, this is expected to bring benefits in terms of safety, cost and schedule.

Preliminary testing of the facility is underway, and active testing is planned for early 2022.

Integrated Decommissioning Solutions (IDS), Cyan Tec Systems Ltd., Lasermet Ltd., Taylor Kightley Engineering Ltd.

Alan Cardwell, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Some of the larger items in our facility are classified as ILW, but their level of radioactivity means they can be processed without the need for special remote operations. This is called a contactable ILW (CHILW) or discrete project.

The removal of high-hazardous waste from legacy facilities is limited by the limited options currently available for handling items of this nature.

As more and more factories are decommissioned, the ability to process discrete items according to Best Available Technology (BAT) is required to produce waste forms suitable for storage and disposal, and to reduce the burden on highly active storage facilities.

The DWSP project has been launched to develop an active demonstration facility capable of handling large-scale projects of this type, using first-generation Magnox storage pool (FGMSP) waste as a raw material.

The facility will better characterize larger wastes in lower background areas, reduce size and remove liquids. There is currently no waste route for items of this nature and activity level.

All operations will be carried out in the "Permacon" container, and the size reduction will be carried out using diamond wire cutting technology.

The active demonstrator has been installed on the Sellafield site, and preliminary trials are planned for early 2022.

Represents facilities using diamond wire cutting technology to reduce the size of large items

Demonstration facility for active size reduction prior to installation of Permacon containment

The project aims to understand the requirements for large-scale CHILW processing facilities and provide assistance in its decision-making process. The demonstration facility will provide features and size reduction in ways that are currently not possible, and in the short term, it will enable the recycling of legacy waste to continue.

The project is actively demonstrating and will start in early 2022 and continue until May 2023.

Integrated Decommissioning Solutions (IDS), BD Nuclear Energy Co., Ltd., Pajarito Scientific Corporation

Debbie Wilson, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

LongOps is a British-Japanese robotics project costing £12 million. It will develop next-generation digital models and long-distance robotic arms, which will be used in fusion research and the decommissioning of nuclear facilities in Japan and the UK.

This 3.5-year research collaboration is equally funded by UKRI, NDA and Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

The project aims to develop long-distance manipulators for highly shielded hazardous environments and next-generation digital models for training operators and control systems.

The plan is based on real use cases of Sellafield Ltd, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and JET, and is led by the RACE department of UKAEA.

We are the end users and smart customers of the developed technology. The first task in this project is to determine the best use case for the project on the Sellafield site.

Through the stakeholder selection process, it is decided that Windscale Pile 1 will be the most beneficial because it meets the requirements of the LongOps plan because of the novel and complex challenges associated with it.

After selecting the use cases, we held two seminars with subject matter experts and engineers from UKAEA. The first workshop identified the complexity of use cases and advanced potential solutions.

The second seminar considered the finer details of our operations and possible responses to possible challenges.

UKAEA now understands the problems faced in Pile 1 and is developing solutions. The current state of digital model technology has been proven, and we are happy to study it further.

Schematic diagram of long-distance manipulator for Windscale use case

Schematic diagram of long-distance manipulator for Windscale use case

In the near future, the use of digital models will be invaluable, providing opportunities for safe training of operators and informing stakeholders and decision makers. In the long run, to achieve safer, faster and better value retirement.

The cooperation with UKAEA and TEPCO provides an excellent innovation platform and lays the foundation for future cooperation.

From now on, LongOps will continue for several years. The second phase of the workshop has been completed. RACE is now working on developing engineering solutions for our use cases, including digital models and the form of manipulators that may be used in the heap in the near future.

As end users, we will continue to support their work and guide development to ensure the compatibility of deliverables.

UKAEA RACE, UKRI, NDA, TEPCO

David Procter, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The IIND competition was launched in early 2017 to encourage supply chain innovation, collaboration, and transfer of cross-sectoral technology to the nuclear market in order to solve “major challenges”.

Learning from past innovation competitions, we are required to guide the scope of the competition by identifying, specifying, and realizing retirement challenges, which are timely, complex and diverse, and robotics and artificial intelligence (RAI) may be part of the solution.

We chose the end-to-end retirement of the post-processing battery as the "challenge statement" to focus on competition. The wish is:

The IIND competition seeks a scalable and transferable integrated system that will ultimately lead to safer, faster, and more valuable retirements in the future.

It is now in the third phase and is committed to an active demonstration on-site at Sellafield.

There are still two consortiums, each of which has a highly developed and long-range capable combat decommissioning platform.

The main ROV is supported by a smaller waste transfer ROV, which will be used to collect and transfer smaller-sized waste projects from the waste outlet area.

This will be supplemented by a wall mast equipped with a robotic arm to characterize and decommission the unit at a high level.

Barrnon vehicle-collapsed due to entering cell

Barrnon vehicle-extended for remote operation

Innovative products developed through this competition can meet other challenges by reducing uncertainty, achieving greater transferability (plug and play) and developing derivative technologies/systems, thereby saving a lot of costs in decommissioning activities.

This approach maximizes opportunities for academia, SMEs, and large organizations to collaborate and integrate technology components, while also encouraging technology transfer from other sectors.

The remaining two platforms began the final detailed design stage. Support work is underway to ensure the greatest chance of success at the beginning of the event.

David Procter, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Building on the success of IIND, the "Classification and Segregation of Nuclear Waste" competition was launched in August 2020.

The competition is managed by Innovate UK, NDA funds are 4.7 million pounds, Sellafield Ltd and Magnox Ltd are joint end users.

The purpose of the competition is to develop an autonomous and integrated toolkit to classify and isolate radioactive waste from nuclear decommissioning activities and optimize container loading.

This will reduce the level of waste that needs to be disposed of, increase productivity, reduce costs and increase safety.

The competition targets waste at the ILW-LLW boundary, including metal, wood, plastic, hose, asbestos, gravel, graphite and various other types.

The project should achieve the following success factors:

A total of 47 applications were received, involving 74 different companies and organizations. In December 2020, these items were included in the final 14 shortlist, and entered the first stage of the desktop feasibility study.

In July 2021, five finalists were selected to showcase their toolkits in an inactive presentation in November 2022.

Seen from two different angles, the X-ray backscatter device located above the metal tube

Nuclear waste classification competition

This competition will identify and develop new innovative solutions to reduce the level of waste that needs to be disposed of, increase productivity, reduce costs, and improve safety.

This funding will upgrade the skills of the supply chain to help us meet future decommissioning requirements and enable them to advance their technology to support future waste sorting and segregation.

The desktop feasibility study (Phase 1) has been completed and five finalists have been selected to enter Phase 2 to create their toolkit and conduct an inactive demonstration in November 2022.

Innovate UK, Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN), Magnox Ltd, NDA

Hilary Royston-Bishop, email: echnical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The Sellafield site is currently undergoing a long-term decommissioning plan.

Historically, many operations have involved chemical treatments, carried out in containers and pipes, which are contained in thick shielded rooms.

One of the main challenges faced during decommissioning involves the removal of such redundant process vessels and associated pipelines, which may still contain residual radioactive and/or hazardous liquids (residues) or solid deposits.

The ability to determine the location and quantity of these residues and residues is crucial before starting decommissioning work.

Current methods rely on intrusive technologies, which are expensive, time-consuming, risk spreading pollution, and may generate secondary waste. In addition, they usually need to be in direct contact with the surface and/or close to the sides of the container.

A study was initiated in 2016 to identify potential non-invasive characterization methods to detect wine residue in containers and pipes.

Unitive Design and Analysis participates in investigating the use of X-ray backscatter technology through the Nuclear Innovation Exchange Program.

Then, after successfully completing the feasibility study, enter the proof-of-concept stage through the Game Changer Program.

A working system was developed that combines a portable X-ray tube with a high-resolution, energy-discriminating X-ray detector and advanced collimator geometry.

Then test on pipes of various sizes and shapes to determine the function of the system and understand its limitations.

The proof of concept was successfully demonstrated to our stakeholders at Responsive Ltd in June 2021. The system developed as part of this project can be deployed with 6-inch penetration and can detect liquid levels as low as 1 mm (up to 8 mm) (pipe thickness) or 2 mm for thicker pipes (8 – 12 mm) .)

This innovative technology will be able to detect the heel of a ship without using invasive technology, which will significantly reduce the time, cost and risk associated with ship decommissioning operations.

Non-invasive characterization of blood vessels

X-ray backscatter technology makes it possible to detect and quantify residual material (heel) in process vessels and pipes without the need for invasive characterization.

Further development work is needed to fully understand the performance of the system in actual factory deployment scenarios.

Unified design and analysis, change the rules of the game

Eryk Ryzko, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The safety of the operator is the most important. Where possible, defense in depth is used, so there is more than one barrier to protect operators from exposure to plutonium and other alpha emitting radionuclides. PPE is considered the last barrier.

The continuous use of PPE is inevitable and should be considered when determining future improvement methods.

A competition was launched through Innovate UK to seek innovative and ambitious ideas to challenge current perceptions of operator protection. The goal is to try new methods and work with suppliers to find more effective ways to enable operators performing high-risk radiation tasks to work faster, safer, and cheaper, while at the same time being more comfortable in their environment.

Three winners were selected from 17 proposals.

ALARP describes the expectations of minimizing personnel risks when reasonably feasible or achievable.

Since people’s lives and well-being are the top priority, technologies that reduce the risk of injury are essential.

ALARP Angel provides the best "first time right" task preparation and quick and fully informed work decisions, taking into account changes in the environment.

This is achieved by understanding the operating environment, using real-time hazard data to provide automatic warnings, tracking each operator to read out the hazards exposed to specific locations in real time, and using simulated 3D virtual reality models for learning and planning.

NuINSIGHT is a patent-pending smart personal dosimetry (SPD) and biometric monitoring and communication system.

It will use electronic personal dosimeters (EPD) to protect decommissioned operators engaged in high-risk radiological tasks, and possibly all monitored and classified workers.

By integrating a set of innovative technologies, NuINSIGHT can measure the operator's dose intake and heart rate in real time, and communicate information with the operator and supervisor through connected VR glasses.

NuINSIGHT can use pseudolites (as shown in the figure) to geolocate workers, and by combining the measured dose rate and location information, a dose rate map can be derived, which can be used to plan future work and reduce the exposure to the operator in real time.

The Virtual Reality Simulation (VRS) training tool was created to train operators on the procedures and processes of using personal protective equipment and working in a radiation control area (RCA).

It is based on event learning, enabling students to practice in an immersive high-fidelity virtual environment. It also aims to guide hazardous perception behaviors and explain the principles of radiation protection through accurate modeling of radiation fields and monitoring equipment.

Since then, the smart eye tracking function has been further improved, which can automatically track where the user is looking, and can determine whether they understand the key information.

The simulation training can be replayed through the desktop interface for lecturers and work planners to view.

In order to effectively coordinate the development of land-based robotics and artificial intelligence (RAI) across the Sellafield enterprise, a long-term roadmap needs to be developed.

Due to the relatively slow adoption of new technologies and the relative immaturity of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous systems in the nuclear energy field, the roadmap is set within a 20-year time frame.

The roadmap was developed by gathering information and then reviewed and supplemented in 2 workshops attended by a series of subject matter experts and stakeholders.

The land-based RAI roadmap shows the route of the site from vision to technology, market drivers, key decisions, capabilities, and major R&D plans.

The roadmap will be included in the entire RAI roadmap, covering Sellafield Ltd's robotics and artificial intelligence, and eventually NDA real estate.

The comprehensive details in the roadmap will guide future RAI decisions and will set a goal to pursue.

The roadmap will be updated as development occurs and vision changes to ensure that they remain relevant and useful.

Robotics and artificial intelligence roadmap

The development of the roadmap sets ambitious goals for the development of land-based RAI in restoration. This provides direction and guidance for focusing efforts to achieve goals more effectively.

The roadmap has reached a good level of maturity and is being shared with other nuclear license holders as the basis for similar projects elsewhere. The file is real-time and will be updated when needed to ensure it stays current and valuable

Most of it is internal, and game changers have some investment in the upcoming technology.

Chris Hope or Yolande Smith, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Ryan Parker joined the Nuclear Energy Graduate Program after obtaining a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Loughborough University. He is an associate member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (AMIMechE) and a member of the Nuclear Society (MNucI).

The Nuclear Energy Graduate Program was designed and created by the NDA and funded by the organization of the British nuclear industry.

It lasts for 2 years, and graduates have the opportunity to make secondments in a series of British nuclear companies and may accept international secondments.

The repair technology capability development team is Ryan's first secondment to participate in the program at the end of 2020. This role involves working with the supply chain and internal stakeholders to develop new features for the Sellafield site.

Starting a new job remotely is always a challenge, but thanks to the support of other members of the team, he is able to start working.

During this secondment, Ryan participated in a series of projects, including the land-based RAI roadmap, IIND, LongOps, and the demonstration of Boston Dynamics’ Spot the Dog robot.

His next secondee will continue his LongOps project work at UKAEA and support engineering design.

I like the various projects and interesting technologies that I work with very much, and I am grateful to the other members of the team for their support.

James Barker, a second-year student in mechanical engineering, is currently working at Sellafield Ltd, providing him with internship opportunities for his master's degree at Lancaster University.

Less than a year ago, he joined the repair capability team in November 2020. Since then, he has been exploring the potential applications of Sellafield robotics by collaborating with key stakeholders and supply chain representatives to demonstrate new technologies and capabilities It played an important role.

In order to gain as much experience and knowledge as possible before returning to university, the student affiliate of IMechE James realized that he had the opportunity to work on similar projects in the industry.

His main focus is to lead the Spot the Dog robot project.

Spot is an agile 4-legged (quadruped) robot. So far, we have only studied the use of small wheeled and tracked land-based ROVs to deploy characterization sensors.

Although it has been proven that such platforms can help reduce the risk time faced by operators, deployment can be challenging if obstacles such as steps, cables, leftover waste or uneven surfaces are encountered.

James and the team are working to show how Spot offers the potential to overcome the limitations of small wheeled or tracked vehicles.

This is a huge opportunity. Not only was I able to work on new technologies and robotics, but I also had the support of knowledgeable colleagues who did their best to help me during this internship.

Eryk Ryzko joined Sellafield Ltd as a graduate in 2016 after obtaining a master's degree in nuclear engineering from the University of Birmingham

His first position was in the Legacy Pond Department, responsible for waste characterization and in-plant testing, investigating the heat output and corrosion and hydrogen generation rate of the legacy fuel.

These results are later used to inform decisions about waste routing and waste packaging selection. Subsequently, he joined the repair capability development team in March 2020.

Eryk is now working closely with stakeholders to manage a portfolio of technology demonstration projects within the Beta Gamma program, focusing on developing and researching the commercial aspects of new technologies to meet future decommissioning needs in areas such as plant characterization or prediction and modeling.

These projects provide opportunities to explore how to deploy and showcase new innovative technologies in real-world scenarios, such as the "Curieosity" ROV platform for remote characterization and the "Heels in Vessels" project container and pipeline.

This involves working closely with the supply chain and understanding how to apply the latest technology to make a real impact.

As a member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, Eryk’s goal is to study further projects, including "REACH", which focuses on the remote, restricted deployment of sensors and the use of new robotic platforms, such as those used for autonomous investigations. Spot robot dog".

I like to use innovative technologies and observe projects from start to finish. This role gives me the opportunity to really see the impact of my work on providing new repair capabilities.

After studying English literature and journalism at Northumbria University, Rachel Campbell originally planned to enter the press. However, growing up locally, she has always been interested in our work and mission, so she started as an administrator at Sellafield Ltd in 2012.

Rachel's interest in waste began when she moved from a management department to an operational support role in recycling, where she witnessed first-hand the short- and long-term challenges we face when recycling waste.

Rachel hopes to help solve these challenges and has taken up a waste technical position in the central remediation team in 2018.

After successfully leading the DWSP active demonstration project through the feasibility phase and preliminary work, she now manages the waste capacity development team.

In the past year, she has been responsible for the delivery of soft package route optimization projects.

This investigated whether it is possible to send more soft bags of trash into the combustible trash route for incineration instead of compacting it for long-term storage in LLWR.

The physical optimization elements of the project were only delivered within three months instead of within the planned 12 months, and significantly increased the amount of combustible soft bag waste, about 45% to 82%, reducing the need for long time The amount of waste burned. -Long-term storage and follow BAT.

While the Chartered Institute of Waste Management is fighting for the franchise, Rachel is currently leading a team of 6 to optimize storage space, open up new waste routes, and identify and online new technologies To help support searches and major projects.

It’s really worth it to see the results of the projects, to see the benefits they bring to the Sellafield site and its workers, and to know your role in it.

NDA Group is accepting robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), of which Sellafield Ltd is at the forefront.

They provide us with ways to evacuate people from extreme environments and assist them in decommissioning and cleaning up the site in a safer, faster and cheaper way.

Effective use of robots and artificial intelligence can have a positive impact on nuclear safety and conventional safety. They can be used to perform repetitive, difficult, and time-consuming tasks remotely, while freeing up time for employees to take on more fulfilling and valuable roles, ultimately helping us accomplish our mission.

The RAI competency team was established to focus on the long-term use of these technologies as these technologies continue to develop and evolve, covering four areas:

Each of these areas is managed in Sellafield Ltd's repair and retrieval value stream and engineering and maintenance and technical groups.

The use of robots has proven to ensure the safety of our personnel, but they still have the potential to help speed up tasks, make our sites safer and earlier, and also help achieve some of the major challenges of NDA.

For many reasons, robots are seen as an essential part of our mission.

They can operate safely under hazardous conditions, they can adapt to places that humans cannot reach, and they can perform tasks in hard-to-reach areas quickly and easily. All of these are essential to achieve our ultimate goal of creating a clean and safe environment for future generations.

To support this growing business demand, the robotics and artificial intelligence capability team set up a new facility in Whitehaven. The space is led by Sellafield Ltd in collaboration with the UKAEA RACE program, NNL and the University of Manchester.

The RAICo One facility, which will open in March 2022, will allow us to collaborate with our partners and supply chain on innovation and application R&D to solve real challenges.

It will bring together the work being done by Sellafield robots and will take advantage of the opportunities they provide under the same roof. This will be a stepping stone for a larger robot and artificial intelligence collaboration space in West Cumbria to achieve greater benefits.

The University of Manchester is developing innovative robotic solutions for inspection and maintenance in hazardous environments and confined spaces.

The RAICo One facility will enable these ideas (such as CARMA, MallARD and MIRRAX) to be further developed and applied in a new collaborative environment.

Sellafield Ltd RAI project team

MallARD (small autonomous robot duck)

MIRRAX (micro robot for restricted access exploration)

Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaborative Laboratory (RAICo One)

Whitehaven’s robotics facility will allow us to collaborate with our partners and supply chain for innovation and application R&D to solve real challenges. It will bring together the work being done by Sellafield robots and will take advantage of the opportunities they provide under the same roof.

This will be a stepping stone for a larger robot and artificial intelligence collaboration space in West Cumbria to achieve greater benefits.

The facility is a joint venture between Sellafield Ltd and UKAEA's RACE program, the National Nuclear Laboratory and the University of Manchester.

Chris Ballard, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

The engineers formed a multidisciplinary collaboration including supply chain and academic experts to study how technology can revolutionize the way the glove box is operated.

The goal of the RrOBO project is to allow robots to perform most of the work currently done by humans. Letting people enter the glove box through the port is a potential safety hazard and has caused accidents in the past.

The RAI team is working closely with two value streams: Phase 1 is dedicated to repair, and Phase 2 is seeking to automate special nuclear material operations.

Remote operation of robotics, where the operator remotely instructs the machine to operate the items in the glove box, will reduce risk and increase the productivity of some of our most critical procedures.

In the future, it may even be possible:

There are more than 300 glove boxes in the Sellafield factory, all of which vary in size, age, design, use, condition and materials.

Therefore, for the initial innovation "research and bunker" stage, it is necessary to collect the glove box and its feature library before proceeding with the downward selection process of the robot application.

This is related to the glove box 3D scanner developed by the value stream of special nuclear materials.

A bunker is also underway to test robotics technology to the limit of its capabilities.

The things learned from the research and bunker will be used to develop an iconic prototype, with the ultimate goal to be deployed on site.

Due to the high TRL of the COTS equipment under consideration, there are no serious obstacles to adoption, and the results of this work will be transferable across the entire NDA asset.

Reduced risk of glove box operation (RrOBO)

The use of robotics technology will reduce the risks associated with putting hands in the glove box and will provide an interface between the hazardous work area and the operator.

This project has the potential to allow our operators to perform tasks remotely through VR and haptic solutions, so that they can perform glove box operations remotely from the control room more effectively.

The next step is to determine the technical requirements based on our on-site inventory and prepare the glove box category to test the technology.

The sandbox environment is being prepared to support the testing and verification of software types.

Atkins, Cavendish Nuclear Energy, Taylor Kettering Engineering, UKAEA, University of Manchester

Chris Ballard, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

RAI technology is becoming more and more common in the industrial, academic, and public spheres.

Sellafield Ltd is currently investigating the benefits of such technologies to the nuclear industry on behalf of the NDA.

The plan is managed by NNL on our behalf and implemented in cooperation with the UKAEA RACE team and representatives from the supply chain and academia.

The RAI application consists of multiple connected physical devices (hardware), such as robots and robotic tools, as well as pre-programmed and emergency logic (software) designed to control them.

In academia and many commercial products, this control is usually provided by a package called "Robot Operating System" (ROS), which is an open source project that provides a common framework for the development of robotic software.

However, due to its open source nature and continuous corrections provided by the broad community, the ROS source code is not fixed. Although this continuous progress is beneficial to most users, it may make it difficult to verify the developed nuclear safety system, as well as operational verification and verification. (V&V) reasons.

In addition to the stringent reliability requirements of the nuclear industry and the complexity of operating within safety regulations, robotics is also evolving rapidly, and its use often leads to customized deployments.

When considering factors such as the transferability of operator knowledge and the maintenance of multiple nuclear decommissioning deployments, this customized nature brings complexity to the nuclear department.

The RAI capability team began to study the standardization of robot hardware and software for nuclear robot applications in 2018. The purpose is to reduce the customized nature of robot deployment and form a unified system architecture for robots deployed at the Sellafield site and a wider range of NDA assets.

The progress of a universal, nuclear-oriented framework emphasizes system reliability, predictability, safety, and security, while also considering ease of development, operator availability, and maintenance of current and future robotics.

Standardization of Sellafield Field Robot Deployment

Sellafield's successful standardized method of on-site robot operation will lead to more efficient, maintainable and safer robot deployments in the future.

This will be achieved through the modularization of robot functions. Examples of benefits include building a reusable, validated and approved "toolbox" of robotic functions and a common user interface to increase operator familiarity between deployments.

The project is underway, with a focus on evaluating potential robot control software solutions through the Game Changer Program, and working with the control, electrical, instrumentation, and safety teams to confirm the deployment on the Sellafield site in a reliable and verifiable manner The path of the robot equipment.

National Nuclear Laboratory, Nuclear Regulatory Office

Chris Ballard, email: technical.innovation@sellafieldsites.com

Rav Chunilal, head of robotics and artificial intelligence, has made a great contribution to Sellafield Ltd and has held many positions during his 17-year company career.

Before joining Sellafield Ltd in 2004, Rav studied chemical engineering and environmental and nuclear process engineering at the University of Leeds.

Before developing our overall wastewater strategy model and establishing the center site flow chart committee and community, he initially performed chemical process calculations to support Thorp fuel manufacturing services.

Rav has always been interested in new technologies and continuously evolving technologies, and combines different technologies together.

Therefore, he is very happy to be able to lead the robotics and artificial intelligence program when it is established in October 2020. Sellafield Ltd has been using robots for a long time, but linking them with artificial intelligence will enable facilities to work autonomously and improve efficiency, and more importantly, will keep people away from harm.

To achieve this goal, Rav has established a central robotics capability that contains a framework outlining how to work within the NDA group.

In addition, he is setting up a RAICo One facility in West Cumbria to improve cooperation across the NDA group and provide a central place for the academic community and supply chain to jointly respond to industry challenges and opportunities.

The new central robotics and artificial intelligence capabilities and the RAICo One facility will accelerate the use of semi-automated systems throughout the site and enable us to move towards full automation in the future.

Chris Ballard, Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Project Manager, is passionate about technology, from innovation to adoption and everything in between.

Chris graduated from the University of Salford with a bachelor's degree in computer science, and then advanced his academic career by obtaining a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) during university lectures.

He started his career in Capula, Westlakes, and then moved to Sellafield Ltd in 2006 as a control system engineer for Thorpe.

Using his teaching background, Chris led a new program to improve and update Sellafield's training through the use of e-learning and smarter and more effective tools, and then served as the head of IRT for robotics in the technical team in 2019.

Under Chris' leadership, the use of Sellafield robotics has grown rapidly, establishing cross-business connections and promoting the potential of this pioneering technology to change the way people work.

Therefore, robotics is now seen as a key enabler of our mission by providing an interface between humans and extreme environments.

Chris is responsible for managing the RAI program, which focuses on developing a long-term enterprise-wide innovation roadmap and supervising many cross-domain projects.

He is keen to share his expertise and raise awareness of the wholesale potential of robotics, especially among young people, and is collaborating with academia to establish and advance apprenticeship programs in this field.

I really like to let people see the benefits and value of robotics and be able to develop innovative solutions to meet their needs. The collaborative environment in the RAICo One facility will make this happen faster.

Arktis Radiation Detector UK Ltd

Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Center

Tannahill Reay Visual Communications Ltd.

TÜV SÜD-Nuclear Technology Division

The Center for Innovative Nuclear Decommissioning (CINDe) is a doctoral center led by the National Nuclear Laboratory in collaboration with Sellafield Ltd and the University of Manchester, Lancaster, Liverpool and Cumbria.

The skills to develop reliable and economical nuclear energy (GREEN) are an alliance of Lancaster University, Leeds University, Liverpool University, Manchester University and Sheffield University and 12 industry partners.

Nuclear Decommissioning Transitional Science and Engineering (TRANSCEND) is the university of Sheffield, University of Surrey, University of Strathclyde, University of Glasgow, University of Southampton, University of Manchester, University of Leeds, University of Bristol, University of Birmingham, Lanka Collaborative research alliance of the University of London, Imperial College London, Queen's University Belfast and eight industry partners.

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