Contracts totalling £30 million have been awarded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to drive innovation and research into new techniques for safe and sustainable decommissioning.

The NDA is tasked with cleaning up the UK's oldest nuclear sites, which were not designed with decommissioning in mind.

This presents challenges that require unique engineering and technological solutions.

Research is a crucial aspect of the decommissioning programme, with the NDA group investing £100 million in research and development (R&D) each year.

This is to solve complex technical problems more effectively and efficiently, and for less cost where possible.

Kate Canning, NDA head of R&D, said: "We are delighted with the high quality of the submissions received, including from many new organisations alongside those established in the nuclear sector.

"It’s an exciting time for the nuclear industry and we believe the range of organisations involved in the frameworks will provide a diverse range of experience and knowledge to deliver innovative research supporting the delivery of the NDA mission."

The contracts will cover three areas: university interactions, enabling decommissioning, waste management and remediation, and spent fuels and nuclear material.

More than 60 organisations, including established nuclear companies, global corporations, UK universities, national laboratories, and small to medium-sized enterprises, are involved in the seven successful consortia.

The three new contracts, which replace the previous Direct Research Portfolio awarded in 2020, will run for four years.

Previous successes from the NDA Research Portfolio (NRP) include developing new treatment technologies for uranic materials and creating a non-contact asbestos detection system using hyperspectral techniques.

The NRP also supports the NDA’s University Research Strategy and addresses cross-industry R&D requirements identified by the Nuclear Waste and Decommissioning Research Forum (NWDRF).

The NWDRF aims to enhance coordination of R&D and technical programmes across the UK’s site decommissioning and remediation and integrated waste management activities.