£2M allocated to advance remote sensing technologies

The Remote Monitoring of Sensitive Sites: Phase 2 competition, which was conducted on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), sought proposals to create an Autonomous Security Alarm and Interdiction Network (ASAIN). The competition attracted a variety of proposals, resulting in four organisations being selected to receive funding.

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) have jointly announced that these four organisations will share the £2 million funding to advance technologies aimed at enhancing the monitoring of legacy nuclear sites. The awarded funding, derived from the Remote Monitoring of Sensitive Sites: Phase 2 Themed Competition, will support the development of technologies that will form the basis of the ASAIN, a system designed to maintain security at these sites remotely.

The technologies under development will autonomously monitor, track, and detect any security breaches, reducing the need for human operators to be directly involved and thereby enhancing their safety. This system will also provide crucial data to inform responses to potential threats.

The competition focuses on finding solutions for lower-risk sites, particularly those where defuelling is nearly complete. The aim is to implement these solutions when nuclear material is no longer present, at which point stringent 'nuclear security' measures may no longer be necessary, allowing for cost reductions.

Andrew Gray, Innovation Delivery Manager at the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, commented: “We are excited to be working with DASA on this competition which has generated a huge amount of interest across many different sectors.

“Keeping our sites safe and secure is absolutely critical to delivering our mission. Our estate spans 17 nuclear sites across the UK, made up of around 950 hectares of designated land on which over 800 buildings are located.

“The innovative solutions will explore how we can continue to keep our people and communities safe, and meet our regulatory obligations, through remotely augmenting our existing arrangements.

“We are continually seeking cutting edge technologies and innovative solutions to enable us to decommission our sites and deliver effectively and efficiently for the public.”

Research is a cornerstone of the NDA's decommissioning programme, with over £100 million invested annually in Research & Development (R&D). The goal is to solve complex technical challenges more effectively, efficiently, and where possible, at a reduced cost.

Initially, £1.5 million was earmarked for this competition, but the exceptional quality and diversity of the submissions allowed for a fourth project to be funded, raising the total to £2 million.

The four organisations that secured funding are:

• Operational Solutions Ltd: This project aims to repurpose a range of intelligent, automated technologies originally developed for Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) and Counter-UAS (CUAS) management, creating an autonomous security solution for High Security Areas (HSA).
• Espanaro Ltd: The project seeks to deliver a cutting-edge autonomous security alarm and interdiction network for remote monitoring of sensitive sites in resource-constrained environments within the Defence and Security sectors.
• ISS Group Ltd: A multi-domain system that integrates ground and air-based sensors with advanced threat detection, identification, and interdiction technologies. The system is managed through a single, intuitive User Interface accessible from local, central, and remote security control centres.
• Archangel Imaging: This project focuses on developing a mobile, infrastructure-independent autonomous surveillance system, enhanced with a range of integrated sensors, effectors, and UAVs to maintain a technological advantage.

These funded projects will undergo live testing on NDA sites starting in 2025. Subsequently, the organisations will present their innovations at a demonstration event in early 2026, showcasing their systems to stakeholders from the Defence, Security, and Nuclear Decommissioning sectors.

This initiative builds upon the success of Phase 1, during which £700,000 was distributed among ten innovative organisations.