Corporate report

NDA 5-year R&D Plan 2019 to 2024

Published 23 April 2019

Executive Summary

Mission background

NDA’s clean-up mission covers 17 historical sites and will stretch for at least another 100 years. Some facilities were associated with electricity generation and others with the UK’s early nuclear weapons programme, while some were purely experimental.

Our legacy is diverse and complex. Many reactor designs were unique, producing radioactive waste and spent fuel that no-one had ever dealt with before: dismantling these and other facilities requires many ‘never-done-before’ projects and continual innovation. Progress depends on understanding the issues clearly, finding solutions and ensuring the cost to taxpayers is acceptable.

Role of R&D

Our R&D work is therefore an essential element in addressing such complex uncertainties and providing confidence that our high-level UK-wide strategy options are technically achievable.

Without R&D, we would lack the knowledge to demonstrate that the strategies and advice we present to government for managing our liabilities are underpinned.

We would also lose opportunities to introduce technologies that could accelerate decommissioning or reduce costs. A further consequence would be the inability to develop future high-level expertise with sufficient capabilities to deal with our own mission, as well as decommissioning challenges elsewhere in the UK and internationally.

Whilst the majority of R&D is carried out by site operators (SLCs and subsidiaries) and their suppliers to address specific challenges, NDA also commissions a portfolio of R&D directly from our suppliers.

This strategic portfolio, totalling approximately £8 million annually, addresses common needs or opportunities across multiple sites and is the subject of this report.

The focus of NDA’s strategic R&D portfolio is on:

• helping to shape and underpin NDA’s overall decommissioning strategy for the UK
• delivering innovation across multiple sites
• developing vital technical expertise for the future

The portfolio forms an important part of the overall decommissioning R&D budget which, in the Financial Year 2017 to 2018, totalled £101 million. The bulk of this is distributed to Site Licence Companies (SLCs) and subsidiaries through the annual budgets allocated by NDA.

The 5-year Plan

This document is the 3rd NDA 5-year R&D plan and covers the period 2019 to 2024. The report provides an overview of the portfolio, including a review of changes that have taken place since publication of the updated 2014 plan, and an outline of proposed topics for future strategic R&D activities funded directly by NDA.

This 5-year plan is intended to provide information to a variety of stakeholders about the R&D topics we plan to fund, and how these activities will enable us to develop strategy, encourage innovation and maintain technical skills. The information will be of value to the stakeholder organisations who fund us, those we collaborate with and suppliers who carry out R&D work.

We will continue to maximise the impact of NDA direct R&D spending by leveraging additional financial investment from other funding sources. For example, the £1.5 million we have directly invested into the Transformative Science and Engineering for Nuclear Decommissioning (TRANSCEND) academic consortium is being leveraged by £8 million from other sources, including industrial sponsors and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Since publication of our last 5-year plan, significant developments have changed the nuclear decommissioning R&D landscape, which we have taken into account in shaping this plan. These include the government’s publication of its Industrial Strategy and the Nuclear Sector Deal. These publications both highlight the importance of R&D and innovation in achieving UK economic growth and reducing the cost of decommissioning.

Other more incremental developments include:

• our Site Licence Companies (SLCs) have continued to develop their Technical Baselines
• the decommissioning research community has used the Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning Research Forum (NWDRF) to share its R&D plans and outputs, helping to establish the need and appropriate direction for a number of R&D projects that will benefit the group
• our SLCs and other stakeholders, such as the Nuclear Skills Strategy Group, have also identified a number of high-level skills areas that need bolstering to ensure we have capacity to undertake our mission over the coming decades
• our own technical specialists have continued to develop their strategies around NDA’s key themes: Integrated Waste Management, Site Decommissioning and Remediation, Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials. They have also identified further requirements for underpinning and innovation-focussed research

Based on the success of our R&D investments over the last 5 years and strong stakeholder support evidenced by sustained significant financial leverage from external institutions, we intend to expand our R&D portfolio from 2019 to 2024. Subject to outcomes from the forthcoming Spending Review, we plan to:

• expand our University Interactions portfolio to help us respond to the high-level skills shortages that are forecast to arise in key decommissioning expertise
• increase spending in Integrated Waste Management R&D, primarily to support innovative waste treatment technologies
• grow our Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials research areas to underpin our advice to government on how to best manage these materials when key decision points are reached in the mid-2020s
• take a leadership role in innovation across the NDA group including fostering an innovation culture, reinforced by a significant increase in technology development funding
• cultivate wider involvement in international R&D programmes to benefit from experience elsewhere and promote our own decommissioning expertise

Need for R&D

We carry out R&D to:

Help shape our strategy

In order to recommend technically credible, well-informed options to BEIS for dealing with the UK’s nuclear legacy, fundamental research is sometimes required into, for example, how a material behaves or how behaviour can be monitored and predicted over long time-frames.

Case study: Radiation Induced Segregation (RIS) in spent fuel cladding

NDA will need to store several thousand tonnes of spent fuel for some decades until a Geological Disposal Facility is operational.

We would like to store that fuel under water, but to underpin that strategy we need to establish if the fuel cladding will remain intact.

Radiation Induced Segregation of some elements in the fuel cladding can enhance the rate at which cladding degrades, so we are funding research to help us to better predict the rate of that degradation and subsequently decide how long the fuel can remain under water.

Heatmap of fuel cladding sample

Deliver innovation

In the current baseline plans, decommissioning of NDA sites is predicted to cost more than £100 billion over the next 100 years. However, those predictions are estimates and assume decommissioning will use technologies and techniques that are currently available.

In reality, technology is constantly improving and new techniques for dealing with industrial problems are being created all the time. We want to improve transfer of relevant technological developments into nuclear decommissioning, so we can achieve the mission faster, safer, and at less overall cost to taxpayers.

We do that by funding R&D projects aimed at adapting technologies and practices from other industries and countries.

Case study: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in nuclear decommissioning

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), or ‘drones’, are starting to be used in multiple industries to carry out external visual inspections of difficult-to-reach buildings and facilities (such as offshore oil platforms, tall chimney stacks). They represent an alternative to existing manual approaches that can involve people working in dangerous situations and the time-consuming construction of expensive access platforms.

Across the NDA group, individual sites have started to use UAVs to inspect nuclear facilities as a way of avoiding people working at heights, in confined spaces or in areas of radiation. In order to foster collaboration between individual sites and accelerate the uptake of this innovative emerging technology, a review of UAVs and their current use in nuclear decommissioning was carried out. The review captured developments in UAV technology, changes in regulation and guidance (such as Civil Aviation Authority), practical experience of using UAVs and future opportunities for deploying them. The community brought together by this report continues to share learning and use UAVs to make nuclear decommissioning faster, cheaper and safer.

A drone in action inspecting the top of Winfrith's Steam Generating Heavy Water Reactor

Develop vital technical expertise

Whilst many engineering challenges associated with nuclear decommissioning can be adopted or adapted from non-nuclear sectors, some of the required skills are highly specialised and not widely available outside of the nuclear industry.

These include areas such as how radiation affects substances, how nuclear materials behave, and how to handle radioactive material safely.

To make sure that we have the people with these specialist skills available on the timescale of the decommissioning programme (several decades), we fund R&D projects that cultivate this knowledge and these techniques.

Case study: NDA PhD Bursary scheme

Each year, a group of technical specialists from around the group identifies a number of high-level skillsets that need bolstering because of a lack of existing capability across the industry (often caused by the aging workforce), or because the technology is relatively new to decommissioning (such as robotics and artificial intelligence).

To address these shortfalls, we sponsor a number of PhD research projects each year, providing both a talent pool of high-quality people with directly relevant experience and a substantial amount of knowledge transfer from industry into the academic community, which helps to maintain specialist skills in the future.

An NDA PhD student presents at the annual bursary seminar

How do we fund and deliver R&D?

NDA group, which includes our SLCs and subsidiaries, spent £101 million on R&D work in the Financial Year 2017 to 2018. This was about 3% of our annual expenditure, and is typically channelled through 2 routes: site-specific activities or strategic R&D investments.

Site-specific activities

The bulk of the R&D funding forms part of the budget allocated to our Site Licence Companies and subsidiary organisations. It is aimed at addressing specific challenges at individual sites and is integral to their decommissioning plans.

The R&D required for this is outlined in the plans that are compiled by our SLCs and subsidiaries, the Technical Baseline and underpinning Research and Development (TBuRD) documents. The TBuRDs identify R&D to underpin or enable site-specific plants, processes or programmes to operate over the medium to long term.

For example, our subsidiary Radioactive Waste Management Ltd (RWM) carries out research to underpin its safety case development for a Geological Disposal Facility, and Sellafield Ltd carries out research into the Post-Operational Clean-Out of its Highly Active Storage Tanks. This research, addressing specific needs, is carried out by SLCs and subsidiaries and through contracts awarded to their supply chains. This R&D work is not covered in this document.

A summary of the overall technical baseline is available on our website.

NDA’s strategic R&D investments

In line with our R&D strategy, NDA maintains a strategic portfolio to commission projects directly, particularly in areas with potential to have an impact across multiple sites, or develop overall strategy. This kind of R&D may help shape and underpin strategy, encourage early-stage innovation studies or address key skills gaps that might hinder our ability to undertake decommissioning in the future.

Topics for individual projects in NDA’s strategic portfolio are identified either by NDA’s internal technical experts or through the members of the Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning Research Forum (NWDRF), a cross-industry forum which promotes collaboration across the UK on nuclear decommissioning.

The different areas of focus for delivering R&D

More detail about our R&D strategy, and how it compares to those of our Site Licence Companies and subsidiaries can be found in the NDA R&D strategy document.

What kind of research do we do?

NDA’s strategic R&D portfolio comprises a number of interlinked areas, either supporting development and implementation of strategy or providing underpinning information. These areas are aligned to key themes.

Area	Primary Purpose
Direct Research Portfolio (DRP) including: Lot A: University Interactions Lot B: Integrated Waste Management and Site Decommissioning and Remediation Lot C: Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials	Help to develop our strategies, encourage innovative methods, and ensure we have the right capability available at the right times for cleaning up our nuclear legacy. More information on the DRP is available in the latest report covering 2017-18, which also includes a series of case studies.
Technical Innovation	Lead the innovation culture across the group and provide routes to encourage and develop promising technologies through the early and mid-Technology Readiness Levels.
International Collaboration	Actively seek international collaborations to share and learn from other countries around the world.
UK Inventory of Radioactive Waste and Materials	Meet UK obligations on reporting on UK Radioactive Waste Inventory. Make information available to inform decommissioning research and planning activities.
Materials and Samples	Effective management of materials and samples that exist across the NDA site and could be used for R&D purposes.
Radiation Epidemiology and Radiobiology research	Improve understanding of the effects of radiation, in order to protect the health of workers and the wider population.

Annual funding

The typical split of annual funding is shown below (averaged over 3 years).

How funding is split between the different strategic areas

Area	Average percentage of annual funding (averaged over 3 years)
Lot :A University interactions	22%
Lot B: Integrated Waste Management and Site Decommissioning and Remediation	29%
Lot C: Spent Fuels and Nuclear Materials	16%
Technical Innovation	15%
International Collaboration	2%
UK Inventory	1%
Radiation Epidemiology/Radiobiology	15%

This funding has been leveraged by significant input from UK Research and Innovation and from BEIS. For example, in 2017 to 2018, NDA spent £1.5 million on academic work, whereas over that same period EPSRC committed £8.1 million to academic research programmes relevant to nuclear decommissioning. Innovate UK contributed £3.5 million to the Integrated Innovation to Nuclear Decommissioning project which NDA had funded with £3 million, and BEIS contributed a further £1.5 million.

Impact of developments since the last 5-year R&D plan

Within the UK nuclear landscape

Since the publication of our last 5-year plan, government has published its Industrial Strategy and Nuclear Sector Deal. One of the key targets is a 20% reduction in decommissioning costs to the taxpayer. Sustained research, development and innovation will be key to achieving this.

Recommendations from the government’s Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) are being put into practice via the £118 million BEIS Nuclear Innovation Programme, and Hinkley Point new build has commenced. The BEIS programme is targeted at reviving future civil nuclear power options for the UK and it is important that we align with them, where appropriate, and maximise opportunities for R&D synergies.

UK Research and Innovation has been formed, bringing closer alignment between the strategies of two key co-funders of decommissioning R&D (Innovate UK and EPSRC). This has led to some innovative approaches such as involving the academic sector in higher Technology Readiness Level work in projects like the £40 million nuclear robotics hubs, Robotics and AI in Nuclear , and the National Centre for Nuclear Robotics.

EPSRC undertook a review of the levels of funding attributed to its primary research themes and reconfirmed the importance of fundamental R&D in the nuclear fission field with a decision to maintain its overall annual grant magnitude. The leverage we receive from EPSRC is a key component of developing and maintaining the high-level skills we need for our mission in coming decades and we need to continue working with them.

A second round of funding has been announced, totalling more than £80 million for the National Nuclear User Facility, accompanied by tens of millions of pounds invested into the Henry Royce Institute Nuclear for Advanced Materials Research and Innovation.

The equipment funded via this route will broaden the range of analytical capacity in the UK and we will need to ensure that our supply chain, in both the academic and industrial sectors, is taking advantage of this significant capital investment where appropriate to enhance our R&D activities.

Within our own scope

Our Site Licence Companies have continued to develop their Technical Baselines.

The decommissioning research community has used the Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning Research Forum (NWDRF) to share its plans and outputs, helping to establish the need and direction for a number of R&D projects that will benefit the group.

Our SLCs and other stakeholders such as the Nuclear Sector Skills Group have also identified a number of high-level skills areas that need bolstering to ensure we have the capacity over the coming decades to undertake our mission.

Our own technical specialists have continued to develop their strategies around NDA’s key themes: Integrated Waste Management, Site Decommissioning and Remediation, Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials. They have also identified further requirements for underpinning and innovation-focused research.

University Interactions (Lot A)

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

Over the last 5 years, the nuclear decommissioning academic community has received a consistent level of support from the Research Councils and industry alike, helping to maintain the high-level skills base established in the UK over the last two decades. The community has benefitted from large government-funded capital programmes such as the establishment of the National Nuclear User Facility and Sir Henry Royce Institute, and we will align our academic research activities to make best use of these new facilities where appropriate.

Furthermore, UKRI, primarily through the EPSRC, has backed a number of long-running academic research initiatives recently which will focus on nuclear decommissioning, such as the TRANSCEND consortium.

We will work with the EPSRC and decommissioning-relevant research groups (such as the TRANSCEND consortium and the GREEN CDT) to help address our R&D needs and ensure we develop the high-level skills and capabilities needed for the long term. Through these types of collaboration, we will also work to maximise the impact of the academic research on the NDA group and help the researchers to demonstrate this benefit to EPSRC to meet their impact requirements.

We will also help develop capacity in the academic arena to undertake research that supports our fundamental understanding and management of our assets and liabilities, for example the evolution of nuclear material during interim storage. We will also work with the wider business to determine where academic research outside of the science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects might contribute to our mission.

R&D Objective
To ensure relevant and sufficient academic technical capability is available on the required timescales to facilitate delivery of the NDA mission.

We have an obligation within the Energy Act (2004) to ensure that there is a skilled workforce available to undertake the work of decommissioning. University R&D performs an important role in fulfilling this obligation, as well as contributing to the technical underpinning of the mission and improving efficiency.

It is important that we continue to engage with, and financially support, research programmes in these academic institutions to benefit from past investment and maintain the world-class high-level research base in the UK. Without continued investment, it is highly likely that the research groups would disperse and we would lose ready access to this knowledge base.

Once lost, it would be significantly more expensive to re-establish than to maintain it at its current level. It would also be significantly more expensive for NDA to perform fundamental research as we may need to outsource it to foreign universities and thus would lose leverage opportunities with domestic collaborators.

University R&D plays an important role through:

• maintenance and/or development of key technical skills required to deliver the decommissioning plans
• early-stage development of decommissioning technologies (such as technology at low technology readiness levels)
• informing the development of strategy and policy
• advancement and transfer of knowledge with regard to decommissioning
• providing fundamental understanding of underpinning science and engineering of key processes or technologies deployed on the NDA sites

NDA University R&D strategy is that, where possible, SLCs, subsidiaries and their supply chains influence and where necessary fund relevant University R&D programmes to support delivery of site plans. NDA will look to influence relevant funding bodies (such as Research Councils) and, where necessary, provide direct funding.

We will ensure that our funded strategic University R&D is prioritised to:

• address multi-site technical needs, risks and opportunities
• support key strategic decisions
• support development of key technical skills and knowledge

This is achieved through liaison with groups such as the NWDRF, Nuclear Skills Strategy Group and BEIS, as well as via our own specialists. We have a specific NWDRF Working Group on University Interactions to ensure co-ordination of university R&D across the NDA group. We evaluate our University R&D portfolio via a metrics approach to determine the impact on the mission, and encourage results to be made public through effective publication and dissemination, taking account of commercial or security considerations.

We work closely with the research councils and universities to encourage and leverage investment in University R&D relevant to our mission with a target to achieve at least matched funding for future programmes. Over the 2019 to 2024 period, we intend to expand our University Interactions portfolio to ensure that the group has the right skills available at the right time to undertake the mission.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

NWDRF and NWDRF Working Group: University Interactions

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020 up to Financial Year 2023 to 2024)

1. Direct support of capability in targeted areas

   • annual PhD bursary call that aligns with the key strategic areas (reviewed annually for opportunities) and supported by NWDRF working groups.
   • targeted support for other high-level academic researchers where suitable (such as post-doctoral researchers, early career fellows)
   • support to existing academic programmes where appropriate
   • working with other interested parties to identify and support appropriate areas of academic technical capability

2. Direct support of industrial supervisors for NDA-funded academic projects

   • ensuring alignment of research to decommissioning needs and relevance maintained throughout projects
   • development of community of funded researchers with industry to facilitate knowledge exchange
   • support development of a pipeline of capability that can be retained in the decommissioning industry

3. Support the development and delivery of relevant Research Council programmes that will support decommissioning

   • centres for Doctoral Training (such as GREEN)
   • managed calls (such as TRANSCEND consortium)
   • iCASE awards

4. Support the access to specialist facilities (such as facilities capable of handling radioactive materials) for academia to ensure the benefit of individual projects is maximised

5. Management of contracts with Universities to ensure consistency of interactions

6. Monitoring the impact of the NDA’s University R&D Strategy – develop metrics to evaluate benefit and use output to shape future investments

Integrated Waste Management (Lot B)

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

In 2018, we published our Radioactive Waste Strategy. This document provides a single strategy which applies to all radioactive waste generated within the NDA group, including materials that may become waste at some point in the future. It aims to provide a high-level framework for flexible waste management decisions, to ensure safe, environmentally acceptable and cost-effective solutions that reflect the nature of the radioactive waste concerned.

Supporting R&D will be required over the coming years to help implement that strategy. Furthermore, a number of new Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) have been formed in Near-Surface Disposal, Thermal Treatment and Problematic Wastes. Output from these groups and the NWDRF working groups will inform the R&D work we carry out over the next few years in the Integrated Waste Management theme and also support the Radioactive Waste Strategy.

(IPTs are groups of subject matter experts and practitioners from around the NDA group who all have expertise in, and face common challenges with, specific technical areas.)

Radioactive Waste

R&D Objectives:

To support NDA development and analysis of strategic options for radioactive waste management. To sponsor R&D activities that enable the NDA to act as an informed strategic body able to respond to government policy decisions and oversee SLC activities with regard to waste retrieval, treatment, storage and disposal. To support the development of innovative technologies for the retrieval, treatment, storage and disposal of waste.

Our single radioactive waste strategy demonstrates how we will support all relevant policies in the UK. Whilst this does not replace existing waste categories, it takes into account the nature of the wastes, (radiological, chemical & physical properties) and the most appropriate management route, while recognising the challenges posed by waste classification boundaries.

Radioactive waste encompasses Higher Activity Wastes and Solid Low Level Wastes, (HAW and LLW).

HAW comprises High Level Waste (HLW), Intermediate Level Waste (ILW) and a relatively small amount of Low Level Waste (LLW) that is unsuitable for disposal in the current LLW facilities. It arises from historical waste storage practices, management of spent nuclear fuel, decommissioning, research facilities and reactor operations. Long-term management within a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) is the preferred approach for managing these wastes in England and Wales, supported by safe and secure storage arrangements and a programme of underpinning research. The Scottish Government policy is for the long-term management of HAW in near-surface facilities. The availability of a GDF is important for site decommissioning and remediation schedules, although it should be noted that the strategy is supported by a programme of safe and secure interim storage capable of accommodating changes to a GDF delivery timescale. Alternative options for some HAW, such as near-surface disposal for reactor decommissioning wastes, are also being considered.

The majority of UK LLW is generated by the nuclear industry, with the largest proportion arising at our sites. The Low Level Waste Repository (LLWR) is part of the NDA group and a key asset for the management of LLW in the UK. NDA was tasked with producing a Strategy for managing solid Low Level Waste from the UK nuclear industry, to establish treatment and disposal routes to:

• support past, present and future site decommissioning and remediation activities
• manage the operational LLW that continues to be created by the nuclear industry

Since the original 2010 publication of the strategy, LLW Repository Ltd, on our behalf, has worked with a wide range of stakeholders, including NDA, Regulators, LLW generators and the supply chain on its implementation. Significant improvements to LLW management include:

• the establishment of a waste services framework by LLW Repository Ltd, providing access for waste generators to a range of alternative treatment and disposal facilities.
• the application of the Waste Hierarchy across the industry, enabling significant quantities of waste to be diverted away from disposal at the repository
• the establishment of the LLW National Programme, enabling the implementation of the UK Solid LLW Strategy through the co-ordination of the activities of NDA and non-NDA group waste generators; the communication and sharing of best practice; the identification of opportunities for improvement; and the engagement of the wider stakeholder group within the process

These changes have brought benefits to the UK nuclear industry as a whole and resulted in the diversion of significant quantities of waste from disposal at LLWR.

Waste management is an area that could benefit significantly from the development of new tools and techniques. With sustained investment in R&D in this area, the strategy would continue to embrace the Integrated Waste Management (IWM) principles with effective implementation of the Waste Hierarchy, seeking lifecycle optimisation, delivering new capabilities and enhancing long-term performance of waste packages at its core. Key areas of R&D focus over the next five years will be characterisation and securing reclassification opportunities, innovations in waste treatment, waste package performance as part of optimised waste storage and waste containers including transport containers. The right R&D will help to minimise overall volumes of radioactive waste destined for long-term storage and disposal,

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

LLWR, NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Characterisation, Waste Packaging & Storage

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Application of the Waste Hierarchy

   • development of technologies to improve the application of the Waste Hierarchy (such as waste characterisation technologies, sorting and segregation technologies, understanding technical barriers to material re-use)

2. Characterisation of waste

   • techniques and technologies for characterisation
   • updating the Solid Waste Characterisation Guidance documentation

3. Waste retrievals

   • understanding and reviewing available waste retrieval technologies that may be suitable for use within the nuclear industry

4. Alternative waste treatment, with a particular focus on volume reduction

   • understanding and, where appropriate, addressing the technical barriers to implementation of new thermal, mechanical and chemical treatment technologies across the NDA group
   • understanding and, where appropriate, addressing the technical barriers to implementation of mobile and/or modular treatment technologies
   • technologies that may lead to better treatment of unique waste streams at an NDA group-wide level (such as contaminated oils and solids)

5. Alternative encapsulants

   • consolidate work and understanding on improving existing encapsulation technology (such as use of Pulverised Fuel Ash and Granulated Blast Furnace Slag)
   • understand options and technical barriers to implementation of alternative encapsulants (such as alternative cements or polymers)
   • release fractions and decontamination factors for accident scenarios

6. Underpinning of, and effective asset management during, interim storage

   • material and design of package (such as improve fundamental knowledge of relevant underpinning science)
   • store environments and their impact on long-term interim storage
   • understanding the evolution of waste packages, including unconditioned waste, during long-term interim storage
   • technologies for monitoring waste packages and stores
   • technologies for remediating damaged ILW packages

7. Alternative disposal approaches

   • understanding and, where appropriate, addressing the technical barriers to implementation of alternative disposal approaches (such as decay storage, near-surface)
   • blending and mixing of wastes to improve disposal efficiency (such as using non-active or active solids to fill container voids)

8. Transportation and logistics

   • self-shielded containers for decommissioning wastes
   • overpacks for future transport

Liquid and Gaseous Discharges

R&D Objective
To sponsor R&D activities that enable NDA to act as an informed strategic body and respond to government policy decisions, and oversee SLC activities with regard to liquid and gaseous discharges.

Liquid & gaseous discharges are generated by SLCs during operations and decommissioning. We require our SLCs to implement the UK Strategy for Radioactive Discharges and comply with relevant UK legal requirements. These requirements are driven by a number of principles including the use of Best Available Technique (BAT) in England and Wales and Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) and Best Practicable Means (BPM) in Scotland.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

LLWR, NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Characterisation, Waste Packaging & Storage, Aqueous Effluents

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Alternative liquid and effluent treatment technologies

   • understanding and, where appropriate, addressing the technical barriers to implementation of new liquid and effluent treatment technologies across NDA sites (such as modular and mobile treatment technologies)
   • treatment of effluents generated via decontamination activities
   • development and improvement of assay technologies

Non-Radioactive Waste

R&D Objective
To sponsor R&D activities that enable NDA to act as an informed strategic body and respond to government policy decisions, and oversee SLC activities with regard to Non-Radioactive and Hazardous wastes. Look for synergies and good practice in treatment of non-radioactive waste from other industries that may be relevant.

Our sites generate non-radioactive waste including demolition rubble, packaging, paper and food waste. Some is hazardous, such as asbestos, process chemicals and oil. The nuclear industry’s contribution to total UK waste volumes is very small compared to UK households and industry. The UK has a well-established, comprehensive and prescriptive regulatory regime for the management of waste. Waste management strategies have also been developed at UK, regional and local level by UK Government and Devolved Administrations, local and regional authorities. We have collated the established practices and principles that underpin these strategies and they are being implemented across our group. There may be areas where greater co-operation between sites could yield benefits and there is an expectation for sites to work with other waste producers and local authorities to engage with local waste management planning activities.

NDA Group R&D Interactions

NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Characterisation, Waste Packaging & Storage

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Treatment of hazardous wastes

   • understanding and, where appropriate, addressing the technical barriers to treating hazardous wastes such as asbestos, process chemicals and oils
   • reviewing applicability of conventional waste treatment technologies and sharing good practice

Site Decommissioning and Remediation (Lot B)

What has changed since the last 5-year plan?

In light of technological advances and a more detailed understanding of material behaviour, we have been reviewing the current strategy of deferring full decommissioning for all Magnox sites by 70 to 80 years. We now believe that this is no longer the optimal approach for the entire fleet and are currently making a case to government that site-specific strategies should be adopted which could, at some sites, result in decommissioning being undertaken earlier than expected. If this change is approved, we will need to develop earlier solutions than currently planned for technical challenges such as graphite retrieval, as well as a clear understanding of the end states each site is working to.

Since the last 5-year R&D Plan, the environment agencies have published guidance on the removal of radioactive substances regulations and BEIS has held a consultation on amending regulation of nuclear sites in the final stages of decommissioning and clean-up. These have both highlighted the need to optimise Site End States and associated waste management plans, including the potential re-use of waste on site, for example to fill voids. We will continue to undertake R&D in these areas to inform our interim and end-state strategies.

A number of gaps in certain skills have also become apparent over the recent years, for example in relation to compiling Environmental Safety Cases and alpha decommissioning. It is likely that, over next 5 years, we will focus more strongly on ensuring appropriate skills are available to make sure we can undertake decommissioning on the optimal timescales.

Site Decommissioning and Remediation is NDA’s driving strategic theme and all other strategic themes support its delivery. We can only complete our decommissioning and remediation mission if we secure and integrate final management solutions for spent fuels, nuclear materials and waste. Site decommissioning and remediation must take account of non-NDA liabilities located on or adjacent to our sites, such as those owned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) or EDF Energy. Furthermore, without continued R&D investment and application in the decommissioning and remediation fields, it is unlikely that we would be able to underpin any strategies that result in accelerated decommissioning or take advantage of technologies and techniques that allow us to undertake decommissioning more quickly or more safely.

The decommissioning and remediation of NDA sites presents a number of major challenges:

• legacy plants in excess of 60 years old containing significant quantities of corroding radioactive material which represent our highest risk and some of our largest hazards
• infrastructure which has been deteriorating for several decades
• ground and groundwater contamination resulting from a variety of past uses, including non-nuclear activities

Decommissioning

R&D Objective
To technically underpin the development of NDA’s Decommissioning Strategy and enhance its delivery by SLCs/subsidiaries.

The strategy remains to decommission our sites as soon as is reasonably practical, taking into account relevant factors such as lifecycle risks to people and the environment. Our preference is for continuous decommissioning except where there are clear benefits from deferring the work, for example to realise the benefits of radioactive decay or from earlier re-use of the facility.

Guidance is required to inform the assessment of options by SLCs, comprising key principles and a discussion of relevant factors as set out in our Value Framework.

Some of the approaches and techniques required are common to multiple sites and, as such, could be advanced through R&D funded via the DRP.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

NWDRF and NWDRF working groups: Land Quality, Decommissioning, Alpha Decommissioning and Characterisation

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Strategic approach to prioritisation of decommissioning and remediation activities

   • influence of different technical factors (such as asset condition, risk to people and the environment) and social factors to determine decommissioning priority
   • managing uncertainty in prioritisation and broader decision-making
   • methods of measuring and reporting progress in decommissioning and remediation

2. Improved characterisation to support decommissioning

   • improving the approach to in-situ characterisation particularly alpha materials
   • improving characterisation technologies to increase the value of information obtained (such as improved accuracy, lower limit of detection)
   • improved remote characterisation technologies

3. Improved decommissioning and asset management (such as decontamination, dismantling)

   • improving the approach to decommissioning (such as pipeline decommissioning, decommissioning of alpha facilities and gloveboxes)
   • improving collaboration between NDA sites and other relevant industries such as AWE, oil/gas and water
   • improving decommissioning technologies (such as laser cutting)
   • improving remote decommissioning technologies (such as robotics and dismantlement)

Site Interim and End States

R&D Objective
To technically underpin the development of our Site End States Strategy and enhance its delivery by SLCs/subsidiaries.

The Site End State describes the condition to which the site will be taken. The key to describing the condition of the site is deciding whether it is optimal to leave something behind (such as building, infrastructure, in-situ disposals, on-site disposals and residual contamination) and how residual risks will be controlled from any hazards that are left behind (such as engineered controls such as physical barriers and/or administrative controls) given the prospective credible end use of the site.

The Site End State could range from removing the hazard entirely to leaving the hazard and controlling the risks to people and the environment. Defining the Site End State is an iterative process that takes account of an ever-improving understanding of the site and its setting over time. Site Interim States are natural milestones and decision points on the way to achieving the Site End State and there are potential areas of research related to asset management; using asset condition data to inform decisions on timing of decommissioning and the optimal approach to deferral.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Nuclear Industry Group for Land Quality (NIGLQ), NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Land Quality, Decommissioning and Characterisation,

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Technically underpin the approach to defining and optimising Interim and Site End States (for land, structures and infrastructure) and to address the barriers (in terms of technology gaps, conflicting legislation, and developing procedures) to on-site and in-situ disposal of waste (including for beneficial re-use) and the management of residual land contamination as part of the delivery of Site End States

   • influence of land use (such as development of generic exposure scenarios)
   • understand the appropriateness of when to implement on-site or in-situ disposal of waste across the NDA group
   • incorporating social factors in decision-making

2. Technically underpin the approach to defining and optimising Interim States to inform decisions on timing of decommissioning and the optimal approach to deferral

   • influence of asset management (such as tools to support decision-making)

3. Technically underpin approach to controls of in-situ waste disposals and residual contamination

   • improving long-term and remote monitoring technologies for ground and groundwater (overlap with land quality management)
   • identifying and improving technologies for long-term record management

Land Quality Management

R&D Objective:
To technically underpin the development of NDA’s Land Quality Management Strategy, and enhance its delivery by SLC/subsidiaries.

Land quality management involves managing risks to people and the environment (including flora and fauna) from radioactive and non-radioactive contamination in ground and groundwater. The challenge is to demonstrate that risks are being managed appropriately and to prevent them from increasing. Also, the most appropriate way to manage large volumes of lightly contaminated material (which is around 10 times greater than the LLW disposal capacity in the UK) needs to be determined as it represents a significant liability. Our strategy is to employ early risk-based decision-making to ensuring remediation is proportional to the level of risk and evaluated on a case by case basis. Key strategic issues are:

• when do we remediate contamination (continuous or deferred, for example, to allow for natural attenuation)?
• when is in-situ management / disposal of waste appropriate?
• can waste arising from decommissioning be used during clean-up of sites?

Many of the techniques and skills required to deliver the strategy already exist, however the depth of resource to be able to deliver some aspects may not be sufficient. The focus needs to be on improving these techniques where appropriate, as well as maintaining skills, collating and disseminating good practice, and encouraging the development of the depth of resource required to meet future challenges.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Nuclear Industry Group for Land Quality (NIGLQ), NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Land Quality, Decommissioning and Characterisation.

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

Work in recent years has supported the technical underpinning of the land quality management strategy. Therefore, the focus of R&D over the next 5 years is to improve the tactical application of land quality management, particularly in meeting the challenges of changing legislation and to continue to facilitate knowledge dissemination. In collaboration with the NIGLQ, the following R&D themes have been identified:

1. Studies to support optimising land quality associated waste management plans

   • improving the approach to re-use, management and disposal of materials arising during decommissioning and remediation
   • understanding how sustainability will influence land quality plans
   • improving understanding and application of land quality liability plans

2. Addressing the barriers to on-site and in-situ disposal of waste (including for beneficial re-use) and the management of residual land contamination as part of the delivery of Site End States

   • incorporating social factors in decision-making

3. Improving characterisation of ground and groundwater

   • improving the approach to ground and groundwater characterisation to improve effectiveness and efficiency (such as new or improved application of existing technologies, development of new processes and procedures)
   • improving characterisation technologies to increase the value of information obtained (such as improved accuracy, lower limit of detection)
   • improving long-term and remote monitoring technologies for ground and groundwater
   • improving the presentation and visualisation of data

4. Assessing risk from land and groundwater contamination

   • understanding the behaviour of contaminants associated with wastes (including sub-surface structures) and residual land contamination managed in-situ
   • improving data interpretation (including long-term monitoring data) to support assessment of ground and groundwater contamination (overlap with site interim and end states).
   • defining human health exposure scenarios relative to generic land use (see Land Use section below)

5. Improving management and remediation technologies for ground and groundwater contamination

Land Use

R&D Objective:
To technically underpin the development of the NDA’s Land Use Strategy and enhance its delivery by SLCs/subsidiaries.

To support defining the Site End State, it is necessary to understand how a site can be used. There may also be opportunities for interim use(s) where decommissioning and remediation activities allow. Many things can affect how a site can be used, for example the location of the site or the proximity of environmentally designated sites. Understanding how a site can be used also supports identifying an approach to land quality management and the extent to which controls can be used to manage residual hazards.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Nuclear Industry Group for Land Quality (NIGLQ), NWDRF and NWDRF Working Groups: Land Quality and Decommissioning

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Technically underpin factors that influence land use

   • understand the value of different land uses (such as monetary value, social value, environmental value)
   • application of societal decision making processes
   • understand the physical attributes that make a site suitable for a particular land use
   • managing liabilities from residual contamination and waste during re-use of sites

Spent Fuels (Lot C)

What has changed since the last 5-year plan?

We have moved ever closer to the end of reprocessing in the UK. The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) ceased reprocessing in 2018, and Magnox reprocessing is due to finish by the end of 2020. Thus, the majority of work in the Spent Fuel area will focus on underpinning the interim storage strategies for un-reprocessed spent fuel prior to a GDF being available and a final decision is taken on whether to dispose of spent fuel. Oxide fuel arising from domestic Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) makes up the most significant portion of our spent fuel inventory, and thus the majority of our R&D spending on spent fuels has been, and will continue to be, directed at Oxide fuel R&D. This will build on the learning gained over the last few years.  

Magnox Spent Fuels

R&D Objective:
To enable NDA to act as an informed strategic body by sponsoring R&D activities which allow us to set the Magnox Spent Fuel Strategy and to monitor its delivery by the SLC.

The current UK strategy is to reprocess all spent Magnox fuel in line with the Magnox Operating Programme (MOP). If reprocessing some Magnox fuel is not technically or economically viable, work will be needed to support strategic decisions and options for its longer-term management. In the event of sudden or gradual loss of reprocessing capability, there are now alternative options available to manage any remaining spent fuel. Options include extending wet storage at Sellafield for a period of up to 10 years to allow any remaining Magnox spent fuel to be transferred to interim dry storage.

Continued wet storage at Sellafield is an option for remaining AGR and LWR fuel

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Sellafield Ltd, RWM Ltd.

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

Further R&D will be commissioned depending upon the progress of the Magnox Operating Programme (MOP) and the condition of the relevant assets. Improved interim dry and wet storage will provide contingency against the current strategy.

1. Interim wet storage capability for Magnox

   • improve and underpin mechanistic understanding of the behaviour of spent Magnox fuel under wet storage conditions
   • understand the basis of a technical and safety case for extended interim wet storage of spent Magnox fuel

2. Options for long-term management of spent Magnox fuel

   • explore alternative options to wet storage for long-term management of unreprocessed spent Magnox fuel
   • establish options for disposal of spent Magnox fuel, including treatment if appropriate.

Oxide Spent Fuels

R&D Objective:
To enable NDA to act as an informed strategic body by sponsoring R&D activities which allow us to set the Oxide Spent Fuel Strategy and to monitor its delivery by the SLC. Key in this is ensuring that skills in spent fuel management are maintained in light of the long timescales for continued receipt and then storage of the spent fuel from AGRs.

Now that Oxide reprocessing is complete the remaining AGR and Light Water Reactor (LWR) fuel, including any future arisings, will be put into storage pending a future decision to dispose to a GDF.

This strategy requires the safe and secure storage of spent AGR fuel for a long period prior to packaging for disposal. There is several decades’ experience of storing AGR spent fuel and there is high confidence in the pond storage approach that Sellafield Ltd is now implementing. Storage of residual intact LWR fuels is sustainable for periods considerably in excess of those planned under the wet storage conditions proposed for spent AGR fuel.

Future decisions are needed on whether to continue with the current storage arrangements, and when and how to prepare and package the fuel for disposal. These decisions will be influenced by such factors as the performance of fuel and storage facilities over the timescales pending availability of a GDF, and the disposal system requirements for fuel acceptance.

It is the responsibility of the relevant SLCs and subsidiaries to undertake the research supporting the disposability of spent fuels and the performance of the disposal system.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Sellafield Ltd, RWM Ltd.

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Options for improved wet storage

   • explore novel technologies to improve monitoring of spent fuel to identify incipient conditions potentially affecting fuel integrity and trace fugitive radioactivity sources at very low levels
   • underpin confidence in selection of routine and contingency water treatment options

2. Potential strategic option to extend wet fuel storage beyond 25 years

   • improve understanding of the impact of extended wet storage on fuel condition, notably of mechanisms and influential factors controlling corrosion rates during storage of AGR fuel
   • evaluate the potential for improved techniques to monitor condition of pond containment structures

3. Potential fuel drying and dry storage

   • understand fuel drying characteristics and process options, including potential technical basis for dry storage of AGR, typically drying process options and achievable dryness levels
   • understand fuel behaviour in dry storage environments and options for short or extended dry storage period
   • learn from international experience gained on dry storage

4. Fuel storage strategy alignment with disposal

   • develop spent fuel strategy alignment with emerging disposal concepts
   • modelling the impact of strategic options and operational changes on the oxide spent fuel strategy

Exotic Spent Fuels

R&D Objective:
To enable NDA to act as an informed strategic body by sponsoring R&D activities which allow us to set the Spent Exotic Fuels Strategy and to monitor its delivery by the SLC.

NDA manages several hundred tonnes of non-standard fuels, commonly referred to as ‘Exotics’. They are often fuels from prototype reactors or experimental fuels used to support the development of nuclear power in the UK. They include significant quantities of fuel material from R&D programmes to examine irradiated fuels, and some irradiated metallic residues and ceramic spent fuel material unsuitable for reprocessing.

Where technically feasible and cost-effective, the way to manage these fuels is to treat them alongside bulk fuels. The strategy for some fuels is still under development. A number of options are possible and, for fuel which cannot be technically or economically reprocessed, may include packaging for interim storage pending disposal, conditioning or immobilisation for storage and/or disposal, as appropriate.

Although smaller in quantity than our bulk fuels, Exotics have diverse properties that cause management challenges. Future work will focus on technically underpinning options to consolidate these fuels and materials in storage and on developing options to manage them over the long term including, where appropriate, conditioning them to enable future disposal.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Sellafield Ltd, DSRL, RWM.

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Improved technical options for long-term storage of exotic fuel materials

   • control of residual moisture and radiolytic product impacts on containment systems, including hydrogen capture or recombination
   • novel concepts to improve containment packages

2. Improving our understanding of potential long-term behaviours of additive materials and exotic fuel claddings under wet or dry storage conditions

   • cladding sensitisation and corrosion potential
   • potential behaviours of alloy or non-standard fuel claddings
   • manage operational and chronic risks due to non-standard fuel composition or additives used in experimental fuels or fuel examination

3. Identify functional requirements and candidate treatments to facilitate storage and disposal of exotics fuel materials

   • drying of failed fuel and fuel residues
   • encapsulation, immobilisation or chemical process stabilisation of potentially reactive or mobile fuel material residues

The R&D topics for Exotic spent fuels have been made somewhat more specific in this issue of the 5-year R&D plan, reflecting a more advanced understanding of the challenges and potential options for remediation. However, as the bulk fuels management options are likely to solve many of the Exotics fuels challenges, these topics will likely remain a lower priority for R&D.

Nuclear Materials (Lot C)

What has changed since the last 5-year plan?

The drive to develop strategic options for managing the UK’s plutonium stocks has been renewed over the last 5 years and by the early 2020s we want to be in a position to start underpinning disposition options with experimental data on active material, and to be able to recommend credible and appropriate immobilisation options for any material that will be unsuitable for re-use. To this end, R&D in Nuclear Materials over the next 5 years is likely to focus on gaining better understanding of how plutonium evolves during long-term storage and how it will behave in the potential re-use and immobilisation forms that could be selected.

Plutonium

R&D Objective
To support NDA in our development and analysis of strategic options for management of the UK’s stockpile of separated plutonium; to enable us to act as an informed strategic body by sponsoring R&D activities that allow us to respond to government policy decisions and oversee SLC activities with regard to plutonium management.

The UK-owned stocks of civil, separated plutonium have arisen from the reprocessing of Magnox and Oxide spent fuels. We also hold stocks of civil plutonium from commercial reprocessing activities owned by overseas customers. There are further quantities of residues from commercial fuel cycle activities and historic R&D programmes. The current strategy for plutonium remains safe and secure long-term storage, primarily delivered by Site Licence Companies.

Our R&D in this area continues to focus on the development and analysis of strategic options for the disposition of UK-owned plutonium. This includes both re-use as mixed oxide fuel or immobilisation in purpose designed wasteforms to cover a range of future UK policy options and manage the range of plutonium and related materials in the UK stockpile. Building on progress from previous R&D plans, it is anticipated that one or both of these options will move towards deployment in the medium to longer term, necessitating greater use of active or larger scale facilities coupled with continuing developments in laboratories. There is also a role for us to promote innovation and development of novel methods of remote handling to reduce the risks inherent in managing plutonium materials as well as supporting key national infrastructure and skills developments in this area.

High-level skills and capability in the area of nuclear materials and especially alpha handling have been identified as key issues within the R&D community. Continued funding in these areas supports underpinning options for plutonium disposition and provides a platform of skills and capabilities to implement the UK government decision on a long-term solution for plutonium.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Sellafield Ltd, RWM, Plutonium Disposition Technical Review and Steering Committee (PDTRSC)

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2024 to 2025)

1. Understanding the suitability of the UK’s plutonium inventory for re-use as MOX

   • investigation of methods to enable the re-use of the vast majority of UK plutonium as MOX fuel
   • understanding the interactions between plutonium storage and disposition processes

2. Re-use of plutonium in modern reactors

   • approaches and strategies for MOX burning in Light & Heavy Water Reactors including core loadings and load factors
   • investigation of fuel designs to improve fuel performance both in and out of reactor
   • benchmarking emerging technologies

3. Immobilisation of plutonium

   • use of Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) and other immobilisation technologies to treat plutonium that cannot be economically re-used
   • developing alternative approaches to the interim storage of immobilised plutonium

4. Long-term storage of plutonium

   • understanding the behaviour of plutonium in extended long-term storage including the behaviour of the plutonium and the storage package
   • investigation of how remote handling, inspection and automation can reduce the risks inherent in handling plutonium and related materials

5. The disposability and disposal of relevant spent fuel and immobilised plutonium

   • developing and optimising the concepts for disposal of immobilised plutonium

6. Supporting national skill base and capabilities

   • enabling access to active facilities
   • supporting national infrastructure benefiting multiple users, eg: Synchrotron sources

7. Security, non-proliferation and safeguards

Uranics

R&D Objective:
To support NDA in the delivery of our strategic options for the management of the UK’s uranics inventory. To enable us to act as an informed strategic body by sponsoring R&D activities that allow us to inform and respond to government policy decisions and oversee SLCs activities with regard to uranics management.

Our uranics inventory has largely arisen from the UK civil nuclear cycle research, development and operations over many decades. We also hold stocks of uranium from commercial reprocessing activities owned by overseas customers. The current strategic approach is continued safe and secure storage pending the identification of opportunities for re-use (such as following sale). Some of the inventory requires processing into a suitable form for re-use. If no application for re-use can be found, some of the inventory may require conditioning to an appropriate form for disposal. The diverse nature of the inventory means there is no single preferred management option for all of it.

Key NDA Group R&D Interactions

Sellafield Ltd, Springfields Fuels Ltd, URENCO Nuclear Stewardship, RWM.

Key DRP R&D Topics (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Identification of alternative ways of reducing the hazard level during interim, long-term storage, especially in relation to uranium hexafluoride

2. Identification of alternative disposal methods and routes

Technical Innovation

What has changed since the last 5-year plan?

Over the last few years, progression of fundamental research through the mid-Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) has become recognised as an essential step in bringing efficiency improvements to civil decommissioning. NDA has co-funded several innovation calls in the area with Innovate UK and, building on this success, our Site Licence Companies have undertaken more innovation-focussed R&D, for example with Sellafield Ltd sponsoring a number of Game Changer initiatives to encourage technology development to higher TRLs. Furthermore, our SLCs are now trialling these developments in a number of active and non-active demonstrator facilities: buildings, rooms and cells on sites in which technology can be tested in real environments. We have seen technologies supported through these routes successfully deployed on sites, such as LaserSnake at Sellafield and Winfrith.

There has been significant development in technical innovation areas which offer the opportunity to undertake decommissioning safer, faster and cheaper. These include the use of robotics and artificial intelligence which could offer revolutionary change in how we work. We have developed a group-wide R&D strategy in this key area to ensure we are well placed to benefit from such developments. This includes supporting academic research and we need to secure maximum benefit from these programmes.

In light of the success of previous innovation calls, we will now take a leadership role in innovation across the group including development of innovation culture as well as encouraging technology development. This will enable us to help support key objectives in the nuclear sector deal to achieve 20% reduction in decommissioning costs by 2030.

R&D Objective:
To lead the development of innovation culture and support the identification and implementation of innovative technologies relevant to our decommissioning mission.

Innovation is key to delivering decommissioning safer, faster and cheaper. Whilst we support innovation in the supply chain through the DRP, we also engage the wider supply chain through open themed calls, currently in collaboration with Innovate UK. Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency whose role is to stimulate innovation to accelerate economic growth. This collaboration benefits us in a number of different ways:

• increased and sustained funding for the nuclear supply chain through significant financial contribution to the calls by Innovate UK and other collaborators – improves the attractiveness of the calls to the supply chain
• significant leveraging of our investment from financial contribution by collaborators and industry – increases the amount of innovation that can be supported
• access to Innovate UK’s capability in managing open innovation calls and monitoring and reporting progress – improves the efficiency of programme delivery and overall programme impact
• access to Innovate UK’s wide network of innovation contacts in non-nuclear sectors – facilitates technology transfer from other sectors

Key achievements in investments supported through collaborative calls in 2012, 2014 and 2016 have resulted in technologies being deployed on sites and shared across the group. These include for example the use of remote laser cutting adapted from technology routinely used in the automotive industry.

Recent collaborations have included the Integrated Innovation for Nuclear Decommissioning call, where Sellafield has been involved from the outset as a potential end-user with the opportunity for demonstration of successful solutions in a radioactive environment. Increasing access to other sectors has been supported through focussed calls such as Protecting the Nuclear Operator led by Sellafield.

These successes indicate that the time is right to develop the role that NDA should have in leadership of innovation across the Group. The revised approach should reflect that we should have a greater appetite for risk compared with our SLCs and focus on a portfolio of breakthrough innovations in a small number of “Grand Challenge” areas. A wider range of open innovation approaches should be developed, proactively engaging academia, our supply chain, other sectors and international collaborators. Delivery of this portfolio will require increased capability and capacity in NDA with the benefits and impact of innovation programmes measured where possible. Leadership of innovation culture across the NDA Group will be essential to identify and mitigate the potential barriers to deployment of innovation.

Key Technical Innovation Activities (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Collaborating with Innovate UK and other co-funders in the delivery of existing and new calls
2. Reviewing the delivery, benefit and impact of the collaborations
3. Evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of this approach with regard to supporting innovation in the nuclear decommissioning sector
4. Leadership of development of innovation culture across the NDA group
5. Development of portfolio of breakthrough innovations to support “Grand Challenges” using a wider range of open innovation approaches working with academia, supply chain, other sectors and international collaborators
6. Increase in capability and capacity in NDA to deliver in this area

7. Continue to work with NDA group, supply chain and academia to facilitate the demonstration of technology using realistic samples and under realistic conditions

   • promoting selected projects in order to raise their impact and demonstrate importance of innovation to the mission, maximising programme participation and sharing results

International Collaboration

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

Over the last few years, we have maintained good relationships and had extensive discussions with relevant institutions in other countries where there has been the potential for us to learn from their decommissioning experience or for us to help them using our extensive knowledge. To facilitate these relationships, we have maintained Memorandums of Understanding with a range of countries and we will continue to do so.

The relevance and opportunity afforded by decommissioning challenges in other nations has also been recognised by one of our key R&D funding collaborators, EPSRC, who have provided a consistent level of funding to support international academic projects in a number of countries including the US and Japan. We will explore the possibility of working with EPSRC to co-fund international projects where there might be an opportunity to leverage greater benefit for the UK as a whole.

NDA has previously helped enable UK organisations to take part in EU programmes, such as Horizon 2020, that are relevant to our mission and we will continue to do so when appropriate, subject to the outcome of Brexit.

R&D Objective:
To share and gain access to good practice, decommissioning experience and innovative technologies from our relationships with relevant organisations in other countries.

NDA’s international collaborations are guided by our International Relations Strategy. We will continue to engage with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development/Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) and the European Commission on R&D issues. We will also engage with counterpart organisations in other countries (such as CEA, EDF and Orano (France), Department of Energy (US), Japan Atomic Energy Agency and NDF (Japan), AECL (Canada), often through co-operation agreements or memoranda of understanding, to provide access to experience, learning and international good practice related to the delivery of its decommissioning mission, as well as enabling collaborative working on areas of joint need. International co-operation may also involve:

• NDA taking part in or supporting supply chain involvement in relevant internationally co-ordinated R&D projects, working groups and other collaborative mechanisms
• where appropriate, NDA participating in targeted international conferences or events as a means of gaining access to good practice, third-party review of our activities and promoting UK decommissioning expertise
• working with DIT in support of the government growth agenda

Key International Collaboration Activities (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Supporting UK membership of OECD/NEA with respect to decommissioning

   • continued funding at request of BEIS of NEA databank
   • participating in Co-ordinated Research Projects of the NEA

2. Identifying opportunities for international collaboration and developing and supporting specific collaborations when identified

   • exploiting opportunities for joint funding with specific overseas R&D programmes where relevant and mutually beneficial (such as Horizon 2020, Nuclear Energy University Programmes, robotics research in Japan)
   • exploring opportunities with overseas counterpart organisations to identify areas which would benefit from joint R&D, such as hydrogen generation and sludge management, remote systems and Artificial Intelligence with DOE, near-surface disposal with DOE and AECL.

3. Attendance at selected international conferences or events to gain insight or share results with a wider audience 

UK Inventory of Radioactive Waste and Materials

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

In 2016, we published the latest inventory. We have since appointed a contractor to compile the 2019 inventory.

We have also published our Strategy on the Management of Radioactive Waste and Materials Inventory Data in which we state our preferred option of splitting the inventory reporting into 3 discreet categories (radioactive waste, land contamination and spent fuel and nuclear materials). This preferred option will need to be supported by a programme of continuous improvement that will facilitate improvements in data quality and reduce uncertainty in the inventory and it is likely that R&D will be required to support this programme over the next few years.

R&D Objective:
To drive improvements in the quality of inventory data and efficiency of data collection to enable strategic decisions to be taken .

The UK Radioactive Waste and Materials Inventory(the Inventory) contains information about radioactive wastes that exist now, radioactive wastes that will arise in future and radioactive materials at UK nuclear sites. Full details about the Inventory are available from the UK inventory website.

The Inventory is produced every 3 years and is a snapshot of wastes and materials at a specific point in time, called the ‘stock date’. The latest Inventory was compiled in 2016 (based on a stock date of 1st April 2016). A contractor has been appointed for compilation of the 2019 Inventory. Work will involve:

• development of data collection tools
• agreement of baseline scenarios
• collection and checking of inventory data
• data analysis and reporting
• project review

NDA recently published a Strategy on the Management of Radioactive Waste and Materials Inventory Data. The delivered preferred option was to split reporting timescales for spent fuels and nuclear materials and radioactive waste from 2019 onwards. We have appointed a contractor to develop improvements to both the method for data collection and the information collected. It is anticipated that improvements shall be implemented for the 2022 Inventory. We lead the National Inventory Forum, a platform for information sharing and collaboration which will be utilized to meet these R&D objectives.

Key Activities (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Deliver the 2019 Inventory

2. Lead the National Inventory Forum and identify opportunities for development work to support the inventory strategy or underpin key areas such as IWM and SF&NM

   • respond to UK international reporting obligations on spent fuels and nuclear materials (including OECD NEA Brown Book and Red Book (Uranics), Eurostat reporting on materials and Joint Convention reporting)

3. Deliver a project to improve inventory data collection for the 2022 Inventory

Materials and Samples

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

We have published our Materials and Samples Management strategic case in which we identified the need to develop a strategy to achieve the objective of making sure appropriate materials and samples are retained, properly managed and where necessary made available to third parties. To achieve this goal, we will need to undertake research to establish the best approach and develop an appropriate strategy.

R&D Objective:
To effectively manage materials and samples that exist across NDA sites and could have research value.

We are also considering options for the effective management of materials and samples that exist across NDA sites. Work is ongoing to develop an over-arching strategy for the management of material and samples. Work will involve development of a forum for information sharing, identification and assessment of credible options for management and selection of preferred options for implementation.

Key Activities (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Develop a strategy for the management of materials and samples across the NDA group

2. Develop a forum for information sharing and collaborative development of the strategy

Radiation Epidemiology and Radiobiology Research

What has changed since the last 5-year R&D plan?

Since 2014, Radiation Epidemiology and Radiobiology research projects that were previously carried out by Westlakes Scientific Consulting, the previous management contractor, have been closed out and published as open access papers in relevant academic journals. Progress with re-establishing the updating of radiation epidemiology databases has been made, along with confirmation of the viability of existing biological samples for future research.

Implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has impacted the research programme as the information collected requires some personal data to be associated with it to maintain provenance.

Going forwards, NDA’s preferred strategy is to further develop our strategic relationship with Public Health England with the long-term aim of restructuring the ownership and management of our assets.

R&D Objective:
To ensure that our radiation epidemiology and radiobiology assets are appropriately managed and that research relevant to our mission is carried out.

Significant epidemiological and radiobiological research involving nuclear industry workers was previously sponsored by parts of the UK nuclear industry (such as British Nuclear Fuels Ltd and United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority). This work generated important research assets which are now owned by NDA. We have continued to manage these assets and support research in these areas as it has a potential impact on the safety, cost, management, delivery and public acceptability of our decommissioning mission.

Our R&D has focused on two specific areas:

• radiation epidemiology – using exposure (primarily radiation dose) and health (primarily cancer registration and cause of death) information collected for a nuclear worker population with statistical analysis to study the patterns, causes, and effects of health and disease outcomes within that population
• radiobiology – using biological samples from nuclear workers, with dosimetry information and laboratory techniques, to directly study the action of radiation on biological systems

Following stakeholder engagement in 2013, NDA published a Preferred Option paper in 2014 which concluded that our preferred option is to develop a strategic relationship with Public Health England (PHE) with the long-term aim of restructuring the ownership and management of the assets.

Key Radiation Epidemiology and Radiobiology Research Activities (Financial Year 2019 to 2020, up to 2023 to 2024)

1. Completion of the re-establishment of our radiation epidemiology databases

2. Further develop our strategic relationship with Public Health England with the long-term aim of restructuring the ownership and management of our assets

3. Delivery of radiation epidemiology and radiobiology R&D projects that inform our strategy

   • re-analysis of updated data
   • feasibility of investigating confounding factors
   • feasibility of future radiobiology research using improved analysis technology

4. International collaboration with other organisations managing similar radiation epidemiology and radiobiology assets

Glossary of terms

Acronym	Expansion
AECL	Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
AGR	Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor
BAT	Best Available Technique
BEIS	Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy
BPEO	Best Practical Environmental Option
BPM	Best Practicable Means
CDT	Centre for Doctoral Training
CEA	Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (et aux énergies alternatives)
DCF	Dalton Cumbrian Facility
DECC	Department of Energy and Climate Change
DIT	Department of International Trade
DRP	Direct Research Portfolio
EPSRC	Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
GDF	Geological Disposal Facility
GDPR	General Data Protection Regulation
GREEN	Growing skills for Reliable, Economic Energy from Nuclear (CDT)
HAW	Higher Activity Waste
HIP	Hot Isostatic Press(ing)
HLW	High Level Waste
IAEA	International Atomic Energy Authority
iCASE	Industrial Collaborative Awards in Science and Engineering
ILW	Intermediate Level Waste
INS	International Nuclear Services
IPT	Integrated Project Team
IWM	Integrated Waste Management
LLW	Low Level Waste
LLWR	Low Level Waste Repository
LWR	Light Water Reactor
MOP	Magnox Operating Programme
MOX	Mixed Oxide (fuel)
NDA	Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
NDA Group	All NDA businesses
NDF	Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corporation
NEA	Nuclear Energy Agency
NIGLQ	Nuclear Industry Group for Land Quality
NIRAB	Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board
NWDRF	Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning Research Forum
OECD	Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PDTRSC	Plutonium Disposition Technical Review and Steering Committee
PhD	Doctor of Philosophy (degree)
PHE	Public Health England
R&D	Research and Development
RWM	Radioactive Waste Management
SF&NM	Spent Fuel and Nuclear Materials
SLC	Site Licence Company
TBuRD	Technical Baseline underpinning Research and Development
THORP	Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant
TRANSCEND	Transformative Science and Engineering for Nuclear Decommissioning
UAV	Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
UK	United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Island)
UKRI	UK Research and Innovation
VLLW	Very Low Level Waste