SNM package inspections - in-situ

Sellafield Ltd is responsible for the storage of Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) that are a legacy of 60 years of reprocessing activities on the Sellafield site. 

To provide confidence that SNM packages remain safe for continued storage within Sellafield’s stores, it is necessary to closely monitor the exterior surface of the packages whilst they are in their storage location (in-situ). Such monitoring will inform the selection of packages for ex-situ inspection.

The essence of this challenge is to provide accurate and reproducible image capture at precise locations on the surface of SNM packages whilst resident in the store. This challenge does not require radiation hardened equipment.

CHALLENGE AIMS

Sellafield are seeking a solution that:

• Provides accurate and reproducible capture of images in precise locations on the surface of SNM packages whilst resident in the store
• Is able to image any package, no matter where it is positioned within the store
• Achieves images of packages at the very rear of a storage channel (essential)
• Could image the entire surface of the SNM package in-situ (nice to have, not essential)

There are a number of physical characteristics that are of interest and must be captured by any proposed imaging system. Full details of these are provided in the Functional Requirements section of the challenge statement.

Sellafield ideally require a solution that can be deployed within approximately one year of successful completion of a Proof of Concept project.

FIND OUT MORE

Please download the challenge statement for full details of this opportunity. Supplementary information is available.

You can also watch a webinar with the challenge owner for more information and details of how to apply.

The closing date for this challenge is 24th November at 12 noon.