British universities to set up nuclear robotics centre

The Centre for Advanced Robotics at the Queen Mary University of London was recently awarded a GBP1.0 million ($1.3 million) grant to help establish a centre of excellence for nuclear robotics in the UK. The focus of the centre will be to develop technology for aiding radioactive waste management.

The grant, from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, will be used towards the creation of the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics (NCNR). The aim of the centre is to develop advanced robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for nuclear industry applications.

The NCNR is a multi-university project that has received funding and contributions totaling GBP40 million to bring together a diverse consortium of experts in robotics, AI, sensors and radiation-resilient embedded systems to address the management and disposal of radioactive waste. Other universities involved include Birmingham, Bristol, Lincoln, Edinburgh, Essex, Lancaster and the West of England.

"The EPSRC funding provides us with an excellent opportunity to develop a variety of robotics capable of tackling the UK's nuclear waste problem," said Kaspar Althoefer from the Centre for Advanced Robotics. "We have a duty to eliminate the need for humans to enter such hazardous environments wherever technologically possible and the research at the NCNR Hub will apply to other industries where this is also a necessity."

While the focus of the NCNR will be nuclear decommissioning, the research will also develop robotics and AI for maintenance of operating nuclear power plants and the construction of new reactors. Additionally, these technologies will be applicable in off-shore, space and mining environments. They could even find applications in bomb disposal, firefighting, and chemical and mechanical manufacturing, according to Queen Mary University of London.

Researched and written
by World Nuclear News