PROVEN technologies developed through partnerships with The Decommissioning Alliance, Adapt and Sellafield were demonstrated to representatives from the Nuclear Decomissioning Authority (NDA) estate at a special event.
The showcase was held to highlight how collaboration can reduce duplication, improve efficiency, and save taxpayers money.
It was arranged by Drew Short, Lead for Project, Programme and Portfolio Management at the NDA, who brought together his counterparts from sites including Sellafield, Nuclear Restoration Services, Nuclear Waste Services and Nuclear Transport Solutions to tour Forth’s facilities at Leconfield and Flimby.
The aim was to connect the NDA’s project delivery community with the technologies and solutions already developed through The Decommissioning Alliance, Adapt and Sellafield partnerships.
“Given the financial circumstances and the challenges we’re facing within government, it’s vital that we showcase what’s already been achieved through collaboration,” explained Graham Cartwright, Projects Director at Forth.
“Across the NDA estate – and even globally – many of the challenges are the same. The taxpayer has already funded the development of proven solutions through The Decommissioning Alliance, Adapt and Sellafield. So why reinvent the wheel at another site, with another team, when that work has already been done?”
During the visit, The Decommissioning Alliance demonstrated several live projects developed in partnership with Forth.
At Leconfield, the group saw demonstrations including the ABay system and underwater micro digger (TDA), the Pile 1 project (in conjunction with Adapt) and the rescue JCB (in conjunction with Sellafield) while at Flimby, the team witnessed practical applications such as Skip Tipping and Feed Storage Tank Atomisation Trials (in conjunction with React, as part of Resolve).
Each innovation represents a step forward in making nuclear decommissioning safer, faster, and more cost-effective.
“Today was about bringing the NDA group’s project and programme community together,” said Drew.
“We wanted to increase visibility of what’s being delivered through The Decommissioning Alliance framework, to make sure proven technologies are shared across the estate.
“It’s about avoiding duplication, leveraging what’s already worked, and strengthening our community so we can deliver the mission more effectively.”
He added: “Our mission at the NDA is to clean up the UK’s nuclear legacy safely, securely, and sustainably. To achieve that, we must think differently, and this means working in partnership, sharing innovation and scaling the best solutions wherever we can.”
The visit underlined the power of collaboration and by using knowledge that already has a proven use case decomissiong across the country can be delivered safer, smarter, and more efficiently.
The Decommissioning Alliance is a collaborative partnership made up of Amentum, Westinghouse, AtkinRealis.
Adapt is a partnership made up of Altrad Babcock, Atkins Realis and Orano.
