Sellafield celebrates 10 years of nuclear clean up innovation
A decade of collaboration, innovation, and breakthrough technologies through the Game Changers programme.
A Game Changers led demonstration with a wall climbing robot (Hausbot)
Sellafield Ltd is celebrating 10 years of its pioneering Game Changers programme. It brings new ideas and technology to the UK’s toughest nuclear clean-up challenges.
Game Changers connects Sellafield with innovators from industry, academia, and beyond. It gives new technologies a route into the nuclear sector. Doing so, helps turn promising ideas into practical solutions.
The programme has helped speed up problem-solving. Welcoming fresh thinking from outside the sector has helped improve safety. It has also reduced hazards and saved money.
Game Changers is designed and delivered by innovation specialists FIS360. They work in partnership with the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL). FIS360 supports both challenge owners and solution providers from start to finish. It helps them develop and test new technologies. These have the potential for deployment across the industry.
The programme is now one of the UK’s top innovation initiatives. It has supported hundreds of projects. These are changing how nuclear sites are cleaned up safely and efficiently.
Game Changers has:
- received more than 1,000 applications from organisations around the world
- funded more than 300 feasibility studies
- enabled over 125 proof-of-concept projects
- supported small and medium-sized enterprises
This helps to strengthen the UK’s supply chain and support economic growth.
Several projects show how the programme turns ideas into solutions with real-world impact:
Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)
A micro UAV
Developed with Ice9 Robotics. The Micro UAV is a small drone that can fly through openings as narrow as 140mm. It captures live images and data from confined and hazardous areas.
The drone gives access to parts of nuclear facilities that were difficult to inspect. It keeps people out of hazardous areas and supports better decommissioning decisions.
It could also save up to £2 million per use case avoiding the need to create new access points.
Seracam
Serac Imaging Systems developed Seracam in partnership with Loughborough University.
The imaging system overlays radiation data onto live video. This allows operators to identify and monitor contamination hotspots in real time.
Sellafield has purchased a Seracam unit. It has been trialled successfully in the MOX Demonstration Facility. Early results show strong potential to improve safety, reduce risk, and speed up work.
Smart Cans
This is a radiation-tolerant sensor system developed by Sensor Driven. It monitors the temperature and pressure of nuclear storage cans. It alerts operators to changes in real time.
The sensors have been miniaturised, tested in harsh environments, and fitted to storage cans using a new welding process.
The technology could improve the safety of long-term Special Nuclear Material storage. It will do this while reducing the need for manual inspections and maintenance. Potential cost savings are between £20 million and £50 million.
The future
The next decade of Game Changers will focus on:
- scaling up successful technologies
- speeding up deployment
- attracting more world-class innovators to the sector
Robin Ibbotson, Sellafield Ltd’s chief technology officer, said:
I’m proud of the innovation we see across Sellafield and the people who solve problems every day. Year after year, we show what happens when we challenge accepted thinking.
Game Changers takes our challenges beyond the nuclear industry. It connects us with organisations of all sizes and with partners from around the world. Over the last decade, that approach has produced solutions we would never have found on our own.
The programme is helping us deliver safer, faster, and more cost-effective operations. And we’re only at the beginning. Sellafield still has decades of important work ahead.
With the right partners, we can solve any challenge. That’s why we’ll keep sharing our problems, finding new ideas, and working together to deliver our mission faster.