Advanced Technology Digitalisation and Integration for Sustainable Nuclear Waste Management

Nuclear technology has now been part of our lives in the UK for over 60-years. The UK is also planning on increasing its nuclear power generation on the path to becoming a net-zero nation. Nuclear technology is, and was, used in industry, medicine and defence, and nuclear power generation provides around 15% of the UK's electricity.

A percentage that is due to increase as future Nuclear Power Facilities are commissioned. The use of this technology over the years means the UK now has more than 4 million cubic metres of waste still to be recovered and treated to complete the UK's decommissioning programme, comprising more than 1,300 different streams of radioactive waste plus any future generated waste.

Higher activity radioactive waste - the most hazardous type - needs to be managed safely and securely for the hundreds of thousands of years some of it will remain a hazard. As a nationally significant infrastructure project which will span decades, there is scientific consensus and international agreement that a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) is the best solution for permanently and safely managing the most hazardous radioactive waste - protecting our environment and future generations.

While technologies ranging from large infrastructure, low carbon construction to corrosion resistant containers are being developed to address specific needs, a key challenge is the digital representation of the design and safety case through the integration of digital engineering technologies (MBSE, BIM, CAD, PLM etc.).

This project aims to tackle this challenge by developing advanced frameworks, methodologies, and tools to enable seamless integration of models of existing and emerging technologies, taking into account the evolution and replacement of these technologies as the complexity of nuclear waste management evolves.

The project is co-sponsored by Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), a publicly owned organization that brings together the UK's leading nuclear waste management capabilities to deliver a permanent solution to the country's nuclear waste. The student will conduct research at NWS locations, in a hybrid workspace, working closely with stakeholders and the academic supervisors to deliver next-generation techniques in model development, management, and integration, adopting a model-based systems engineering paradigm and contributing to the wider context of digital engineering.

The advancement is expected to have a direct impact on systems engineering practice at NWS and will feed into the development of digital designs and safety cases.