Challenge statements
Challenge 1 – Alpha Decommissioning
Sellafield Ltd seeks processes and technologies to support the decommissioning of plutonium plants. Preference is given to techniques capable of minimising manual intervention for the range of activities undertaken including dismantling, size reduction and demolition.
We are keen to explore alternative approaches to minimise or remove the need for operations to be carried out in air fed protective suits whilst undertaking these activities.
Challenge 2 – Remote Beta/Gamma Decommissioning
We are seeking innovative solutions and alternative methods to decommission highly active facilities that restrict or prevent man access operations. To support our current technologies we are keen to explore alternative processes for:
- Access/Egress
- Characterisation
- Size reduction
- Dismantling
- Demolition
Challenge 3 – Removal of contaminated concrete
We are seeking processes and technologies to decommission concrete and brick nuclear structures and interested in three particular aspects:
1. Technologies to improve the characterisation of structures
2. Technology to sort and segregate differing radioactive waste and waste medium
3. Technologies to specifically cut out areas of differing radioactive contamination from those of the non-active structure
To learn about our underpinning research and development requirements please click here.
Challenge 4 – Condition monitoring
Sellafield Ltd seeks processes and technologies to assess the movement, stress and the longevity of pipes, vessels and steel supports. Innovative techniques must be able to be deployed remotely into areas of restricted access and the condition monitoring approach must be tailored to allow the measurement of “wear and tear”.
Challenge statement 5 – The requirement to provide cost effective decontamination and waste reduction methods
Waste minimisation and correct segregation are key deliverables in reducing the cost of removing waste from active areas. Sellafield Ltd is seeking processes and technologies to decontaminate facilities with a particular emphasis on:
- Portable decontamination technologies
- Remote deployable technologies
- Novel decontamination processes that can be used to decontaminate concrete, plastics, pipelines and vessels
Challenge Statement 6 - ideas relating to the Sellafield Mox Plant
Against a backdrop of much-improved performance of the Sellafield MOX Plant (SMP) in recent years, we are looking in and beyond the nuclear industry for technologies and process engineering solutions to implement in this plant, in order to facilitate further progress.
Mixed oxide (MOX) nuclear reactor fuel – a mixture of uranium dioxide (UO2) and plutonium dioxide (PuO2) – is manufactured in SMP. The first stage of SMP’s manufacturing process, which is known as the Short Binderless Route, involves high-energy mixing of UO2 and PuO2 powders in an attritor mill. This mixture is subsequently granulated, before being pressed into fuel pellets, which are then sintered at high temperatures.
Specifically, we are looking for ideas in relation to:
Powders
• Monitoring of powder flow and granulation. As well as off-line systems to measure powder flow (and to ultimately deliver powder flow improvements), we are also interested in in situ process monitoring – which may involve lasers or acoustic monitoring.
• Powder-repelling surfaces – possibly based on emerging nanotechnologies.
• Innovative die-filling techniques.
• Technology – perhaps robotic – to assist with the removal of entrenched powder from within vessels and pipes.
Furnaces
• Advanced sintering solutions – in particular, to promote shape control during sintering.
• Novel measurement techniques for variables such as temperature and humidity.
Challenge Statement 7 – Requirement to investigate and monitor subsurface land under inaccessible areas
To strengthen and enhance the existing Sellafield Ltd technologies and processes, Sellafield Ltd is seeking innovative solutions to characterise and remediate sub surface land as part of the decommissioning and remediation focus.
Preference is given to solutions and processes that:
- Can access beneath existing structures, plant equipment and buildings
- Can minimise excavation requirements
Challenge Statement 8 - Infrastructure
To supplement and enhance the existing Sellafield Ltd technologies and processes, Sellafield Ltd is seeking innovative solutions and alternative methods for a number of applications
Specialist Waste treatment processes
These are required to supplement our current approaches for the treatment of low volumes of wastes containing uranium and plutonium.
- Acidic aqueous solutions in mixtures of nitric and hydrofluoric acid
- Solvents in Tri butyl phosphate in odourless kerosene
- Mercury Plutonium mixtures
Treatment processes will be required, either to immobilise the wastes suitable for disposal or pre-treatment to allow these wastes to be disposed into existing waste routes.
Characterisation technologies
Characterisation of actinides as solids, solvent or aqueous solutions for a number of chemical properties and impurities
- Direct analysis of actinide samples
- Non destructive techniques of actinide samples
- In situ testing of aqueous and solvent solutions and powders
Characterisation of decommissioning materials such as concrete, soils, sludges, metals with the aim of characterising for disposal
Material Assessments
Remote characterisation capability for packages, storage containers, drums for integrity, physical and chemical properties
Challenge Statement 9 – The requirement to provide remote handling technologies for active waste stored below water
Sellafield Ltd values the knowledge and experience that lies within the supply chain and academia. As such we are keen to explore new, novel and emerging technologies related to under water remote handling that reduces operator dose and minimises waste operations.
Sellafield Ltd is interested in two particular aspects:
- Waste characterisation techniques using remote or semi remote operations
- Technologies to size reduce, sort and retrieve waste using remote or semi remote operations
Challenge Statement 10 - Spent Fuel Management – Stainless Steel Product Packages Challenge Statement
To strengthen and enhance the existing Sellafield Ltd technologies and processes, we are currently seeking emerging technologies relating to product package assessment.
It is currently possible to perform in-situ visual inspection of the packages using an 'inspection trolley' and also measure the outer surface temperature using pyrometry. Due to the nature of the contents, the typical outer wall temperature is in the range 50 - 200 C.
Sellafield Ltd are seeking alternative processes to measure potential materials degradation of the product package and are actively investigating opportunities to inspect and measure from a distance of 10 - 30 cm away, without making contact with the package and that can be deployed on the inspection trolley.
This would need to work in a moderately radioactive environment.
