Japan and the UK partnering on robotics for use in nuclear facilities

Japan and the UK are partnering to develop and deploy new automation and robotics techniques for use in both the decommissioning of nuclear plants and the development of nuclear fusion energy. The project, designated LongOps, will receive £12-million in funding and will run for four years. The funding is being provided equally by three entities. These are UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). The project will be led by the Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility of the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). The UKAEA is the British government agency responsible for research and development (R&D) in the field of nuclear fusion energy.