Programme

08:30

Registration and refreshments

09:00

Chair’s welcome and introduction

Steve Frost, Superintending Nuclear Inspector, Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)

Overview of the UK Nuclear sector 

09:25

Keynote Address: Hinkley Point C Progress and the development of Sizewell C

• Update on the construction progress of Hinkley Point C
• Construction lessons that will benefit future nuclear new builds
• Building and protecting skills
• Sizewell C and its path to a final investment decision

Mark Hartley, Technical Director for HPC, EDF Energy

10:00

Keynote address: Establishing good production management, enabled by digital solutions, into Decommissioning Mission Delivery

• Establishing good production management, enabled by digital solutions, into Decommissioning Mission Delivery
• Establishing the visible baseline of decommissioning delivery in Plant Operation Control Centres
• Empowering the workforce to close the visible gaps

Putting the right information, in the right hands, at the right time, that make decision - making quicker, easier and less labour intensive with Digital solutions

Paul Dyson, Asset Management and Continuous Improvement Manager (LLWR & RWM Facing), (SL Facing), NDA

Dave Clark Asset Management and Continuous Improvement Manager (LLWR & RWM Facing), NDA 

Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)

10:35

A game-changing solution for a safe and sustainable final disposal for spent fuel, Made in Finland.

• What we have learned from stakeholder engagement during the Deep geological repository (DGR) journey
• How have we continuously improved the planning and construction processes, hence gained a lot of lessons learned
• Gained results, the Trial Run of Final Disposal to start by 2023 to prepare Posiva to start industrialized operation of the DGR by 2025.

Jari Makkonen, Senior Advisor, Posiva Solutions Oy, Finland

11:00

Refreshments, networking & exhibition

11:30

Development of Fusion Reactor Digital Twins in the Metaverse

• Timescales for fusion commercialisation dictate minimal real-world prototyping – fusion reactors must be designed using hitherto unseen levels of “actionable” simulation. As a strongly coupled and highly complex system, creating a digital version of a tokamak is undeniably an “exascale” grand challenge.
• When a fusion reactor sub-system design is modified, the coupled nature of the tokamak can have wide-reaching implications for other sub-systems. There is therefore an urgent need for a near “real time” focused design platform.
• Might it be possible to design a fusion reactor in the “Metaverse”, seamlessly connecting all engineers and democratising the power of modern supercomputing and AI? And will the convergence of AI and HPC that underpins the nascent Metaverse deliver near real-time actionable simulation capability that will lead to faster design iterations and acceptable design risk?

Professor Lee Margetts. UKAEA 

Panel chaired by Mark Enzer OBE, Head of the National Digital Twin programme at the Centre for Digital Built Britain

12:00

Deployment of advanced robotics into a nuclear environment

• Deploying Spot and sensors on Sellafield 
• Industrial wireless network we are using on Sellafield to deploy the robots over long distances. 
• IRIS robotic communications framework, which was an output from the SL/NDA Innovations In Nuclear Decommissioning competition.

Will Newsom, Head of Nuclear Engineering, Createc Ltd

12:30

Lunch, networking & exhibition

Afternoon Chair Laura Ryan, CE&I Security in Design Capability Lead Sellafield & Chair of IET Nuclear Technical Network

13:30

Strategies to mitigate sustainability risks with digital technology

• How will our view of climate and sustainability risks change over the next 30 years?
• Can we draw parallels with the introduction of health and safety legislation 30 years ago?
• What activities on site drive the carbon footprint and how can digital technology help mitigate those risks?

George Wormald-Kelly – Digital Technical Lead, Nuclear & Power EMEA, SNC-Lavalin

Sam Stephens – Head of Digital, Nuclear, SNC-Lavalin

Innovation

14:00

Robotic Systems at Sellafield

• Robotics on the Sellafield site past and present
• Creating a consistent approach with the regulator
• Future Deployments

Matt Coulson, CE&I Engineer, Box Encapsulation Plant (BEP) Project, Sellafield Ltd

Alex Jones CE&I Engineer Sellafield Ltd

14:30

Approach to Regulating Innovation

• Explain why ONR considers it important to have an approach to regulating innovation in the nuclear sector, and
• Describe the work that ONR are doing to engage with the nuclear industry and supply chain to support the adoption of pragmatic innovative solutions in the nuclear sector.

Dr David Smeatham, Principal Nuclear Inspector – Safety Innovation, ONR

15:00

Graham Speake, Waterfall Security Solutions Ltd

15:15

Refreshments, networking & exhibition

Future gazing

15:45

Here Comes the Sun – An Introduction to the ITER project

• An introduction to the ITER project
• ITER Engineering Challenges
• Current Status and Progress at ITER

Margaret Graham, ITER Engineer and Ambassador, Chartered Engineer and IET Honorary Fellow

16:15

Clean Energy Applications of Nuclear Energy

• Outlining potential value chains from GW, SMR and AMR for decarbonisation of energy end use sectors
• The role of nuclear in a decarbonised energy system
• Linkages to Government policy and funding

Dr. Phil Rogers, Technology Leader at National Nuclear Laboratory

16:45

RR SMR Manufacturing Industrialisation

• Update on overall SMR programme
• Manufacturing strategy
• Update on Factory Concepts

Matt Carswell, Chief Manufacturing Engineer, RR SMRUK Consortium

17:15

Conference close