UAV 1.png

<p>Ice Nine’s micro UAV has completed the first flight through a 150mm access port into an active nuclear environment at Sellafield, proving a safer, faster and lower-cost inspection solution enabled by the Game Changers programme.</p>

Ice Nine micro UAV reaches active deployment milestone at Sellafield

Seracam web.png

<p>Game Changers has supported the journey of Seracam® from innovative imaging concept to commercially deployed nuclear solution, with Sellafield procurement marking a major milestone in safer, smarter decommissioning.</p>

Game Changers drives procurement of commercially ready Seracam® following successful Sellafield demonstration

BEPO article.png

<p>Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) has shortlisted a new wave of feasibility projects aimed at testing innovative approaches for the decommissioning of the British Experimental Pile 0 (BEPO) reactor at Harwell.</p><p>BEPO, a compact research reactor, provides an ideal testbed for novel technologies due to its low radiological risk and complex structure, including reinforced concrete shielding, graphite blocks, and thermal components. Access is constrained, waste volumes are significant, and the safe handling of activated materials is critical. The <a href="https://www.gamechangers.technology/challenge/Innovative_Solutions_for_BEPO_Reactor_Decommissioning:_Access,_Dismantling_&amp;_Materials_Handling,_Waste,_Digital_Solutions" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(63, 81, 181);">challenge</a> seeks technologies capable of creating safe access, dismantling reactor components, managing waste, and providing digital oversight, all with minimal human exposure.</p><p>Selected projects were awarded Game Changers feasibility funding, with work having started early in 2026 and decisions for proof-of-concept projects due soon.</p><h2>Project Highlights</h2><h3>Barrnon Ltd – B-IDP™</h3><p>Barrnon proposes the Barrnon Integrated Decommissioning Platform (B-IDP™), a modular, scalable system combining robotic handling, waste sorting and digital workflow. Concepts include BARRIER®-enclosed access creation, laser and saw-based dismantling of graphite and thermal shields, semi-automated waste segregation, and full digital traceability for each waste item, demonstrated on the BEPO reactor.</p><h3>New Millennium Nuclear Technologies International (NMNTI)</h3><p>NMNTI’s feasibility explores an integrated suite of remotely deployable tools – TruPro®, TruProid®, and TruGraphiLift® – to advance BEPO decommissioning. Proposed concepts include remote access, handling of reactor components, improved waste characterisation, and digital data capture to support safer, faster, and scalable dismantling methods across the UK nuclear fleet.</p><h3>Eadon – REACH</h3><p>The REACH platform is a modular, reconfigurable system designed for remote access into hazardous spaces through small access ports. Capabilities include transporting sensors, scanners and robotic tools for inspection, data gathering and sample retrieval. REACH can deploy horizontally or vertically, with articulation enabling tasks in locations inaccessible to conventional systems while carrying substantial payloads.</p><h3>Singular Machines Ltd</h3><p>Singular Machines proposes AI-driven automated design for tooling to extract BEPO graphite safely and efficiently. The concept aims to shorten design cycles from months to days and demonstrate scalability by generating bespoke tooling variants for multiple NRS reactor sites, providing an economical pathway for wider fleet application.</p><h2>Collaborative Delivery and Rapid Progress</h2><p>Solving the challenge of BEPO decommissioning is being driven by close collaboration between NRS, the Game Changers delivery team, and potential solution providers. FIS360 Project Manager Kirstie Ryan highlighted the swift progress achieved, from developing and sharing the challenge statement, through application down‑selection, to initiating feasibility projects. Clear communication, prompt responses to queries, well‑structured processes, and strong, proactive engagement from all parties have enabled NRS to move from initial challenge definition to reviewing 60 applications and completing four feasibility projects within just a few months.</p><h2>Benefits Beyond BEPO</h2><p>These feasibility projects aim to accelerate BEPO’s decommissioning, demonstrating innovative technologies that could transform nuclear decommissioning across the UK. By improving safety, reducing costs, and enabling smarter handling of radioactive materials, successful concepts could be adapted across NRS’s 50+ reactor sites, helping the UK nuclear sector decommission legacy reactors faster and more efficiently.</p>

<p>Four projects have been selected by Nuclear Restoration Services to test innovative technologies for decommissioning the BEPO reactor at Harwell, with potential to improve safety, efficiency and scalability across UK nuclear sites.</p>

NRS launches Game Changers feasibility projects for BEPO reactor decommissioning

UoN PoC.jpg

<p>The University of Nottingham and Ice9 Robotics are developing an inflatable snake robot for inspecting pipework at Sellafield, potentially improving inspection capability, reducing operational risk and supporting safer nuclear operations.</p>

Game Changers launches proof-of-concept project for pipe inspection technology

KRANS DEMO STILL 2.jpg

<h2>Addressing a Long-Term Corrosion Challenge&nbsp;</h2><p>Sellafield’s purpose-built storage facilities are expected to safely contain materials for around 100 years, but the site’s coastal environment creates a humid, salt-laden atmosphere that can accelerate corrosion of aluminium and stainless-steel structures within the store.&nbsp;</p><p>Access to the storage areas is extremely restricted, with inspections needing to take place through 140mm inspection ports and in environments with limited lighting and power. Sellafield Ltd’s Special Nuclear Materials (SNM) portfolio has a vision to deploy a sensor on a robotic arm which is capable of monitoring corrosion on any part of the store’s structure.&nbsp;</p><p>Through the Game Changers programme, SNM sought innovative technologies capable of non-destructive evaluation, corrosion measurement and sampling, while also gathering environmental data such as temperature and humidity.&nbsp;</p><p>Solving this <a href="https://www.gamechangers.technology/challenge/SNM_stores_inspection_-_corrosion" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">challenge</a> is expected to deliver savings of between £10 million and £20 million within 5 to 10 years, through improved understanding and management of corrosion risks.&nbsp;</p><p>In response to this challenge, KRANS Ltd, a Haverhill-based company developing innovative inspection services, has demonstrated a promising new corrosion inspection technology. Its prototype sensor system has recently been showcased to challenge owners and project stakeholders in a proof-of-concept demonstration at the Engineering Centre of Excellence in Leconfield. Developed following a successful feasibility study completed in 2023, the technology aims to improve inspection and monitoring of SNM storage areas at the Sellafield Ltd site.&nbsp;</p><h2>Combining Advanced Inspection Technologies&nbsp;</h2><p>Following the completion of a 12-week feasibility study in August 2023, funding was approved for an 8-month proof-of-concept project, which began in August 2025. During this phase, KRANS developed a prototype combining Eddy Current Arrays (ECA) with Digital Image Monitoring (DIM) to detect and measure pitting corrosion and microcracking on both aluminium and stainless-steel structures.&nbsp;</p><p>The technique assesses flaw depth with minimal surface preparation, while advanced digital image correlation analysis rapidly detects and counts corrosion pits and microcracks. The system has been specifically designed to operate in difficult-to-access environments without the need for extensive supporting infrastructure.&nbsp;</p><h2>Successful Demonstration at Leconfield&nbsp;</h2><p>At the Leconfield demonstration, stakeholders were shown how the prototype ECA and DIM sensor could identify corrosion features in challenging conditions. The successful demonstration provided confidence that the combined technology approach could significantly improve corrosion monitoring capability for long-term nuclear storage facilities.&nbsp;</p><iframe class="ql-video" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/1189737954/"></iframe><p>One stakeholder said: “The combination of Eddy Current Array and Digital Image Monitoring has been demonstrated to be a very promising technique for measuring corrosion features on our store structures.”&nbsp;</p><p>They added: “KRANS have applied their considerable experience in non-destructive testing and image analysis to combine two technologies which could greatly improve measurement uncertainties over using either technique on its own.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Supporting Safer Long-Term Storage&nbsp;</h2><p>The ability to accurately measure corrosion is critical to maintaining confidence in the long-term integrity of the stores and supporting Sellafield’s mission to create a safe environment for future generations.&nbsp;</p><p>Beyond Sellafield, the technology could offer wider benefits across the nuclear industry wherever long-term asset integrity monitoring is required in hazardous or inaccessible environments. The development demonstrates how Game Changers continues to connect operational challenges with innovative technology providers capable of accelerating practical solutions.&nbsp;</p><h2>Next Steps&nbsp;</h2><p>The next phase of the project will focus on validating the technique further using more representative corrosion samples and refining the sensor design to enable deployment via robotic systems. Robotic deployment methods are currently being developed through other Game Changers projects.&nbsp;</p>

<p>KRANS demonstrated a prototype corrosion inspection sensor for Sellafield Ltd SNM stores, successfully showcasing advanced detection capabilities and progressing towards further validation and future robotic deployment.</p>

New corrosion inspection technology demonstrated for Sellafield SNM stores

Insitu feasibility.png

<p>A new feasibility project,&nbsp;<strong>DielectraScan&nbsp;</strong>from the University of Nottingham, has been&nbsp;funded&nbsp;under the Game Changers programme.&nbsp;The&nbsp;project&nbsp;focuses on developing&nbsp;a&nbsp;<strong>measurement system based on dielectric properties</strong>&nbsp;for real-time measurement to support more effective nuclear waste management.</p><p>The&nbsp;<a href="https://www.gamechangers.technology/challenge/In-situ_real-time_characterisation_and_measurement_of_materials_for_effective_nuclear_waste_management" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">challenge</a> being addressed&nbsp;highlighted the need for&nbsp;<strong>in-situ, real-time measurement and characterisation of materials</strong>. At sites such as Sellafield Ltd, understanding the properties and composition of nuclear waste is essential for safe handling, storage, and processing. Existing techniques can&nbsp;require long&nbsp;timeframes&nbsp;of up to 12 weeks for&nbsp;sampling and analysis, which may&nbsp;limit the&nbsp;speed of operational decision-making and introduce inefficiencies into complex processes.</p><p>Addressing this challenge could bring&nbsp;a number of&nbsp;operational benefits.&nbsp;Reduced requirement for intrusive sampling in challenging environments would improve safety, and access to real-time data would support more&nbsp;timely&nbsp;decision-making, reduce uncertainty, and help optimise waste handling processes.&nbsp;It may also&nbsp;release laboratory capacity (a limited resource) to provide support for other projects and business needs.&nbsp;For Sellafield, where waste streams can vary widely, improved characterisation tools could support ongoing hazard reduction and site clean-up activities.</p><p>The&nbsp;DielectraScan&nbsp;project, which began in mid-January, centres on the development of an <strong>in-situ&nbsp;measurement system based on dielectric properties</strong>. These properties describe how materials respond to electromagnetic energy, including how they store and dissipate it. Because materials&nbsp;exhibit&nbsp;distinct dielectric characteristics, these can be used to infer properties such as composition or condition. The work will build on&nbsp;expertise&nbsp;at the University of Nottingham in microwave material processing and characterisation, with the aim of developing a system capable of&nbsp;providing&nbsp;real-time insights.</p><p>A key aspect of&nbsp;DielectraScan&nbsp;is the intention to combine dielectric sensing with&nbsp;<strong>secondary measurement techniques through sensor fusion</strong>, supported by artificial intelligence. By integrating multiple data sources, the system could provide a more rapid and comprehensive understanding of material properties. The feasibility study will assess which analytes relevant to Sellafield can be characterised using dielectric&nbsp;methods, and&nbsp;explore the potential for AI to&nbsp;turn&nbsp;measurements&nbsp;into practical metrics to support operator decision-making.</p><p>Subject to the outcomes of the study, there is potential for follow-on work to develop a&nbsp;<strong>portable or robotically deployed prototype</strong>. Such a system could enable remote measurements in challenging environments and reduce the need for manual sampling. This approach&nbsp;could both&nbsp;improve safety and&nbsp;further&nbsp;shorten testing timelines and improved&nbsp;access to data in operational settings.</p><p>If developed further, this&nbsp;capability could support Sellafield Ltd and the wider Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate in enhancing how materials are&nbsp;monitored&nbsp;and assessed.&nbsp;The measurement and deployment approach&nbsp;could also have applications beyond the nuclear sector, including in areas such as environmental monitoring,&nbsp;manufacturing, and process industries, where rapid, non-invasive material characterisation is of interest.</p>

<p>DielectraScan is a University of Nottingham project testing new sensor technology to measure nuclear waste at Sellafield Ltd, aiming to reduce long timeframes for lab testing, improve safety, and improve speed in decision-making.</p>

News

Ice Nine micro UAV reaches active deployment milestone at Sellafield

Game Changers drives procurement of commercially ready Seracam® following successful Sellafield demonstration

NRS launches Game Changers feasibility projects for BEPO reactor decommissioning

Game Changers launches proof-of-concept project for pipe inspection technology

New corrosion inspection technology demonstrated for Sellafield SNM stores

DielectraScan feasibility project announced to support advances in nuclear waste characterisation