Public Funding for Red Engineering Limited

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield Ltd and Magnox Ltd have challenged industry to **'develop an integrated, autonomous toolkit which sorts and segregates radioactive waste generated from nuclear decommissioning activities into containers which are optimally packed.'** RED Engineering proposes to demonstrate an effective solution to the above challenge by developing and integrating a range of existing technologies including: * Mechanical Handling * Robotics * Sensor Technology (Imaging, LIDAR, Hyperspectral imaging, Alpha monitoring, Mass) * Control system technology including machine learning At a headline level, SASPaC (Sort And Segregation Packaging Capability) is innovative in that it will be able to import unidentified and diverse radioactive waste, complete sorting and segregation activities and export differentiated (LLW, ILW, Out of Scope) packaged waste for recycling and disposal without human intervention. Currently sorting and segregation of radioactive waste is completed manually so this innovation has the potential to significantly increase the safety and efficiency of operations across the nuclear estate. More specifically, it is innovative in its approach to the handling and identification of different items of radioactive waste. SASPaC will include a self-learning ability to process new and different types and shapes of waste, without relying on a pre-uploaded image database, rapidly reducing the training and commissioning requirements for the system. RED Engineering is a Queens Award winning Engineering and Technology SME based in the North East of England with core competencies spanning mechanical engineering, system integration, robotics and 'agile' product development. Our mission is to deliver engineering projects that make working in hazardous environments safer and we have a proven track record of developing automated solutions for the nuclear decommissioning sector that move humans away from harm. To develop SASPaC we will work with a select team of trusted subcontractors as detailed below: * MJR Power & Automation -- a control and power system specialist * Solent Automation & Robotics -- a specialist in industrial robotics * Taw Associates -- a specialist in sensor technology and data management Each brings industry leading subject matter expertise to address a key area of the challenge and all are existing partners of RED Engineering.