In-situ real-time characterisation and measurement of materials for effective nuclear waste management

Waste on the Sellafield site must be classified and any hazardous properties identified before handling and disposal. Conducting measurements in situ enables faster, real-time data gathering and analysis, facilitating immediate decision-making regarding the treatment, storage, recovery or disposal of waste.

With such varied waste materials at Sellafield, it is recognised that a ‘toolbox’ of different technologies may be required, preferably one that works over a wide range of environments, providing a large suite of data/analysis. Note that not all analysis requires a numerical value to be beneficial and determining an analyte to be below the relevant hazardous waste threshold may be sufficient.

CHALLENGE AIMS

The aim of this challenge is to enhance the characterisation toolkit at Sellafield – identifying technologies that can assess a wide range of waste material characteristics, including radiological, non-radiological, chemical, and physical properties.

The solution(s) should be able to remotely identify and determine both the type and quantity of the following components in situ in any given waste material:

• Total petroleum hydrocarbons
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)
• Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
• Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Heavy metals
• Anions
• Asbestos
• Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
• Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)
• Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) testing
• pH

Sellafield Ltd is seeking solutions that can address all or part of the challenge and help reduce the current 12-week timeframe for data gathering and analysis of samples.

FIND OUT MORE

Please download the challenge statement for full details of this opportunity.

An interactive webinar will take place at 10:30am (GMT+1) on Thursday 14th November where delegates will have the chance to hear directly from the challenge owners and ask any questions. Attendance is free. Register here.

The deadline for applications for this challenge is 3pm on Tuesday 26th November 2024.

ASSESSMENT OF APPLICATIONS

Applications are reviewed against set criteria by a panel of challenge owners, prospective end‐users from our partner organisations, and Game Changers project staff. Brief summary feedback will be provided if your project is not awarded feasibility funding.

Application forms and posters will be assessed consistently and transparently using the following criteria:

1. How well does the application align with the challenge aims?
2. Is the proposed solution credible from the perspective of deployment?
3. What potential does the proposed solution have to transform practice in your area?
4. Do you feel the applicant is well placed to deliver a feasibility project?
5. Would the solution proposed in the application benefit from feasibility funding?
6. Does the application meet the scope of the challenge?