Innovation in Nuclear Decommissioning Driving Britain’s Clean Energy Future
2025 has been a landmark year for the UK’s civil nuclear sector. Major investment at Sizewell C, Rolls-Royce SMRs at Wylfa and a new National Policy Statement for nuclear, all signal a renewed commitment to energy security, job creation, and regional growth.
Yet, it is important, to reflect on the enabling environment that has made such investment possible. None of this happens without decommissioning. Often overlooked, our mission is the essential foundation of the nuclear lifecycle building public confidence that the UK nuclear industry is safe, secure, and that we can manage waste responsibly and cost-effectively.
Using innovation, we can ensure we move our mission at pace to help the UK Government make Britain a green energy superpower.
We invest around £100 million annually in research and development to tackle our unique challenges, while our collaborations have delivered cutting edge technologies, pioneering over 240 innovations, and delivering around £300m of savings across our estate.
Two of the NDA’s subsidiaries, Sellafield Ltd in West Cumbria and Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS) are leading the charge in innovation, creating solutions that deliver real impact across the sector and beyond.
Sellafield’s tech revolution
At Sellafield, the UK’s largest and most complex nuclear site, cutting-edge technologies are being developed under stringent safety conditions to accelerate waste retrieval and improve efficiency at NDA sites.
The applications of these innovations are being used across the nuclear sector worldwide, and this progress is powered by long-term partnerships that bring together supply chain, industry, academia and communities.
The result is a future that’s smarter, more sustainable and safer, unlocking skills, jobs, and groundbreaking ideas.
What does innovation look like?
Think robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced materials science, and digital modelling. At Sellafield, robotics are already making a huge difference. For example, Boston Dynamics’ four-legged robot, Spot. Sellafield engineers have used it to inspect and transport materials inside buildings, accelerating key workstreams by up to ten times.
Rav Chunilal, Sellafield Ltd’s head of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, said: “Our teams in Remediation are constantly working with design engineers and nuclear regulators to push boundaries and deliver world firsts.
“A great example is RrOBO, our risk reduction solution for glovebox operations. Developed with our supply chain partners, it uses remotely operated robotic manipulators to make glovebox work safer and more efficient. This is game-changing.”
Collaboration at the core
Sellafield is a founding partner of RAICo, the Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration, an alliance between Sellafield Ltd, NDA, UK Atomic Energy Authority, Atomic Weapons Establishment, and the University of Manchester.
Rav said: “Our RAICo1 incubator facility in Whitehaven is where early-stage technologies are nurtured and developed with academia for deployment at Sellafield and other legacy sites, working hand-in-hand with our Engineering Centre of Excellence team.
“We’re sharing knowledge with oil and gas, transport, infrastructure and defence industries, and partnering with organisations like the UK National Nuclear Laboratory to keep pushing the boundaries, safely.”
Game Changers and beyond
One standout initiative is Game Changers, Sellafield’s unique programme that connects businesses across Cumbria and the UK to solve complex technical challenges through small-scale funding calls. It’s a brilliant way to bring fresh ideas into the sector.
Rav said: “The work our teams are doing with businesses across the UK is a test-bed for innovation that can feed into other industries. It’s really exciting.”
Redefining the future at NRS
First generation nuclear sites, research sites and the former fast reactor research centre at Dounreay are providing the physical environment for cutting edge trials - from autonomous systems to intelligent security and remote decontamination.
Future proofing security
Winfrith was chosen as a low-risk site to showcase and assess the capabilities of autonomous and intelligent remote security systems developed under the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) project, sponsored by the NDA and the UK Government.
By testing these technologies in real operational environments, the project delivered valuable insights into their potential to strengthen existing security frameworks and unlock innovative, cost-effective approaches for transforming security operations at some of the UK’s most sensitive and complex sites.
Oldbury gears up for Auto-SAS deployment
In early 2028, Oldbury will host the deployment of an Auto-SAS (Autonomous Sort and Segregation) system demonstrator, marking a major leap forward in radioactive waste management.
This pioneering robotic technology will autonomously sort and segregate radioactive waste, boosting worker safety, cutting operational costs, and accelerating decommissioning timelines.
Fuel Element Debris (FED) currently being retrieved and partially sorted from Oldbury vaults will serve as the feedstock for the Auto-SAS system—making this the first real-world trial of automated FED sorting and segregation on a UK nuclear site.
Concrete clean-up reinvented
After five years of collaboration between NRS, the NDA and supply chain partners, we’re trialling one of the most innovative concrete scabbling solutions to date.
This fully remote system features a high-powered vacuum scabbler head that decontaminates large concrete surfaces with exceptional precision. Its advanced dust filtration technology minimises airborne contamination and significantly reduces worker exposure, setting a new benchmark for safety and efficiency.
Already trialled in the NRS Dounreay Fuel Cycle Area, this game-changing tool has potential to be deployed across the NDA group - transforming how we tackle complex decommissioning challenges.
Looking ahead
Innovation is about shaping a better future. From accelerating waste retrieval at Sellafield and NRS sites to supporting the strategic programme to transfer seven of the UK’s Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor fleet to NRS for decommissioning from 2026, these breakthroughs are setting new standards for what’s possible in nuclear decommissioning.
The pace is picking up. The opportunities are growing. And together, we’re building a future powered by partnerships, creativity, and new technologies.
