There is up to £850,000 of funding available from Sellafield Limited working in partnership with Innovate UK via a small business research initiative (SBRI) investing in innovative projects that will better equip and support nuclear decommissioning operators working in hazardous environments.

The decommissioning of redundant nuclear facilities is a major challenge for the nuclear industry. While every effort is made to decommission remotely, there is still a need for operators to enter hazardous environments. The aim of this competition is to enable these operators to carry out their tasks safer, quicker and more cost-effectively, while being more comfortable in their working environment.

We will be seeking disruptive solutions; so this will be a great opportunity to bring ideas together from a wide range of sectors, from creative industries to space applications.

We will be looking for proposals that integrate technologies and will improve such things as:

• personal safety
• communication
• hazard monitoring and protection
• physiological effects
• comfort and ergonomics
• dexterity
• health monitoring
• reusability and minimising waste
• capability

We are particularly encouraging applications that:

• bring together organisations from outside the nuclear sector that can create unique solutions to the challenge
• are multi-disciplinary and involve technology transfer
• adopt a systems based approach to solving the challenge
• provide solutions that are adaptable, scalable and useable in a range of facilities and environments

The competition is 100% funded and will open 23rd April 2018. Information is available on the Innovate UK competitions page here.

We would like to invite you to a Briefing Event run by KTN, where you can hear more about the scope for this competition and the application process.