The UK Atomic Energy Authority (“UKAEA”) has awarded Veolia
Nuclear Solutions (UK) and Wälischmiller Engineering GmbH
separate contracts totalling £3 million to supply robotic
manipulator arms to its RACE research facility.
The £3M contract stems from the £12M UK-Japanese robotics
deal for fusion energy and nuclear decommissioning
research, called “LongOps”, announced in January this year.
LongOps will support the delivery of faster and safer
decommissioning at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s
(“TEPCO”) Fukushima Dai-ichi site in Japan and at
Sellafield in the UK.
Veolia Nuclear Solutions (UK) and Wälischmiller Engineering
GmbH will each provide a twin-arm haptic manipulator – a
form of kinaesthetic communications technology, complete
with electrical and control systems, to deliver key aspects
of the LongOps project. The manipulators will also be used
by UKAEA to train operators that are based at both
Sellafield and Fukushima.
In addition, developments from LongOps will be applied to
the upgrading, maintenance and dismantling of fusion
devices, such as the Joint European Torus (“JET”).
The four-year LongOps collaboration is led by UKAEA’s
Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (“RACE”)
robotics test facility at Culham Science Centre near
Oxford.
LongOps is funded equally by UK Research and Innovation
(“UKRI”), the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
(“NDA”) and TEPCO.
Notes to Editors:
About LongOps
In January 2021, the UK and Japan announced the LongOps
research and technology deployment collaboration to help
automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion
energy production.
The decommissioning of legacy nuclear facilities and fusion
facilities are complex large-scale projects that are
time-intensive to accomplish safely. Robotics and digital
twin technologies will play an essential part in carrying
them out efficiently with no risk to human health.
The world-leading LongOps alliance will see new robotics
and automation techniques applied to both fusion research
and to decommissioning nuclear facilities in Japan and the
UK.
More information on
LongOps.
About Veolia Nuclear Solutions (UK)
Veolia Nuclear Solutions is a leading world-class player in
nuclear facility clean-up and treatment of radioactive
waste. It provides the most comprehensive range of
technologies, expertise and services to develop the
activity of facility restoration, decommissioning and
treatment of radioactive waste.
About Wälischmiller Engineering GmbH
Wälischmiller Engineering is a global manufacturer of
manipulators, remote handling systems, and robots for
high-radiation and other hazardous environments. The
company is involved in complex projects all over the world.
For over sixty years Wälischmiller has produced world-class
innovative equipment for the market areas of nuclear
technology and industry.
