Innovators in Nuclear Waste Sorting and Segregation

Clifton Photonics, Cavendish Nuclear, and partners have successfully completed the Phase 1 Feasibility Study component of the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) radioactive waste sort and segregation challenge.

Funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Innovate UK, the competition aims to develop an autonomous and integrated toolkit to sort and segregate radioactive waste generated by nuclear decommissioning activities.

The team, led by Cavendish Nuclear, brings together experts from Babcock International, the Bristol Robotics Laboratory, Clifton Photonics Ltd., Structure Vision Ltd and Iconsys Ltd, to develop the next generation autonomous waste sorting, segregation and packaging system known as OptiSort.

One of five successful teams from a wider group of 15, the consortium will now progress through to Phase 2 of the challenge, to undertake prototype development and testing.

Clifton Photonics’ Managing Director, Dr Scott Greenwell said:

“Working with Cavendish and the team on Phase 1 of the project has been a pleasure. We can’t wait to begin Phase 2 and start turning our ideas into real-world solutions to transform the sort and segregation process.”

Cavendish Nuclear’s Head of Innovation and Technology, Tony Burnett said:

“Through OptiSort, we aim to deliver truly autonomous radioactive waste sorting, segregation and packaging solutions which will minimise safety risks to operators, result in significant productivity benefits, maintain quality standards and improve efficiency to reduce costs”.

At the end of this phase of development, which aims to provide a non-radioactive demonstration of OptiSort, a panel of experts, assembled by the NDA, will judge the ‘fitness-for-purpose’ of the solution.

Further information on the project can be found in the Cavendish Nuclear Press Release, Cavendish Nuclear Recognised as Innovators in Waste Sorting and Segregation