Nuclear body funds energy project

The funding, which now stands at £2 million, will be distributed among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) outside the energy sector, with allocation taking place through a competitive process conducted by Innovate UK.

Projects will typically last between six and 12 months, and will range in size from £25,000 to £100,000, the NDA said.

We would like to encourage those people who are currently working elsewhere, in industries such as defence, aerospace, automotive and telecommunications, to grasp this opportunity

NDA head of technology Melanie Brownridge

NDA head of technology Melanie Brownridge said: “We would like to encourage those people who are currently working elsewhere, in industries such as defence, aerospace, automotive and telecommunications, to grasp this opportunity to consider how their techniques can be applied to our important field of work.”

Though the fund is designed to encourage new entrants into all energy industry sectors, the NDA said it was “particularly interested” in technologies that can be applied to decommissioning challenges.

“The UK is home to a number of world-leading companies in a wide range of cutting-edge fields such as robotics and computer gaming. We want to harness this dynamic and creative thinking in order to address some of the long-term challenges the nuclear decommissioning industry faces,” Brownridge said.

According to Brownridge, the development of innovative solutions will mean decommissioning work can be conducted with a higher degree of safety, and at a lower cost for the taxpayer.

“We want to stimulate the development and adoption of novel and emerging and as alternatives to established technologies to improve the way we do things,” she said.

Though SMEs are free to submit stand-alone projects, they can work collaboratively with partners of any size. However, if SMEs collaborate with larger firms, the SME must lead the project, the NDA said.

Registration for the competition opens on 28^th March and closes at midday on 4^th May. The deadline for video submission is 11^th May.