Robot Dogs Aid Sellafield Cleanup Efforts

Innovation remains central to the UK's nuclear mission. Sellafield Ltd now uses four-legged robots to accelerate decommissioning, improving safety and reducing human exposure to hazards.

Innovation has always been an important part of nuclear delivery in this country.

Sellafield Ltd is now using quadrupedal (four-legged) robots to help speed up decommissioning. This helps improve safety and reduce human exposure to hazardous environments.

The challenge

Sellafield is one of the most complex nuclear sites in the world. Parts of the site are hazardous and can be difficult or unsafe to access.

Our decommissioning work increasingly depends on high-quality inspections. These ensure accurate data collection, enabling timely decision-making.

At the same time, we must reduce the need for workers to enter radiological or industrially risky areas. Manual inspections can expose people to unnecessary hazards. This is especially the case in active areas, confined spaces, or locations with restricted access.

To address these challenges, we're finding advanced solutions. These include developing robotics through the RAICo 1 programme and our supply chain and partners.

Four-legged robots in particular, offer huge potential to improve the way we carry out inspections and monitoring.

As we progress decommissioning, more facilities will require surveillance. This means the robots will become invaluable. Especially when operated remotely.

The quadrupedal robot in an active cell

The solution

Four-legged robots are the solution. We'll be using more of them to do more work in areas where we don't want humans to be.

They will carry out routine tasks such as mapping, data capture and characterisation.

A scan image

They can:

provide remote inspection of hazardous or restricted areas
offer data collection using 3D scanning
share live-streamed information to any location
reduce the need for people to enter hazardous environments

This is safer, more flexible and more efficient.

The technology

While we're exploring lots of different robotic technology, our four-legged friend Spot, is our most high profile.

It is:

customised for nuclear site needs
offers radiation-resistant sensing systems and enhanced data-collection payloads
highly mobile, capable of navigating staircases and rough terrain
sensor-rich, enabling 360° imaging, 3D light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scanning, gamma and alpha characterisation, swabbing, size reduction, photographic and video capture, and environmental monitoring
enabled for secure, remote operations

Benefits

The benefits of Spot are huge:

Improved safety

Fewer nuclear operators need to enter hazardous areas because robots can be operated fully remotely.

Accelerating decommissioning

The work can be done faster as robots can work in these areas much longer than a human could.

Less waste

Reduces the amount of personal protective equipment (PPE) used and disposed of during inspections.

Better decision-making

Experts can access high-quality, real-time data from anywhere, allowing quicker and more informed decisions.

Greater efficiency

Robots can carry out repeat inspections consistently.

Supports innovation

Aligns with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's (NDA) ambitions to use robotics to transform decommissioning.

Collaboration

This has all been possible thanks to strong collaboration. This includes work with industry, research partners and the supply chain.

This allowed the safe deployment of Boston Dynamics' Spot robot on the Sellafield site.

Our key delivery partners are:

Boston Dynamics - developer of the original Spot robot

Their platform provides the mobility, endurance and stability needed to navigate our most challenging environments.

Createc - working with Boston Dynamics

Createc has customised and deployed Spot for nuclear applications. They supply and maintain our robotic inspection platform.

They adapted Spot with advanced perception systems, imaging and radiation-measurement technologies. These are tailored to our needs.

They have supported on-site trials, operator training, and the safe introduction of Spot to active facilities.

AtkinsRéalis - providing technology and systems integration expertise

They support the development of operational workflows, mission planning, digital integration and assurance processes.

These allow Spot to be used both safely and effectively.

RAICo 1 - providing research, development and testbed support

RAICo 1 (Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration) includes the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Sellafield Ltd, the University of Manchester, and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies.

RAICo 1 has enabled early trials, proof-of-concept demonstrations, and testing in realistic environments. This allowed deployment to active areas. Their work helps bridge the gap between innovation and operational use.

Specialist Equipment Services - Sellafield Ltd

The team responsible for the equipment and the equipment deployments. This team of engineers have been at the fore front of deploying new and novel technology in first of a kind situations both within Sellafield and across the NDA estate.

They are also developing the strategic thread co-ordinating the key delivery partners and ensuring a smooth transition from first of a kinds into scalable deployments across the enterprise.

Together, these partners have allowed us to demonstrate, trial and begin deploying.

This collaboration is central to bringing advanced robotics into our day-to-day clean-up work.

Progress so far

We have been developing and deploying these robots for more than two years.

A customised Boston Dynamics Spot robot has been used to inspect hard-to-reach areas, gather environmental and radiological data. This supports clean-up and decommissioning activities in challenging parts of the site.

The programme has achieved several milestones:

2021 - Initial trials

A three-day trial was carried out on the Sellafield site. This was supported by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority's Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) team.

This work provided early evidence on how these robots can be safely deployed within nuclear facilities. It also highlighted their potential for future inspection tasks.

Spot the dog trials in Calder Hall

2022/23 - Identifying opportunities and proving feasibility

We identified the first suitable use-cases on the Sellafield site for these robots.

We then completed active demonstrations. These proved Spot could navigate complex layouts, collect stable 3D scans, and operate safely alongside existing plant and processes.

2023/24 - First deployment in a C5 area

A customised Spot robot was deployed for the first time in a C5 (highly radiological) area.

The robot completed routine inspection routes and captured high-quality imagery and radiological data. This showed these robots can operate in areas traditionally accessible only to workers using full personal protective equipment (PPE) with strict controls.

2025 - First remote operation from outside the nuclear-licensed site

In partnership with AtkinsRéalis, we achieved an industry first. We remotely operated a customised Spot robot from outside the boundary of the nuclear-licensed site.

The operation was a live-streamed, secure teleoperation trial. It was the first time one of these robots has ever been controlled in this way in the UK nuclear sector.

It demonstrated the potential for future, fully remote, inspection operations.

Spot has successfully completed tasks including repeated inspection runs, environmental mapping, radiological characterisation.

This progress forms the foundation for wider deployment of these robots. This is in line with our decommissioning strategy.

Next steps/future work

Sellafield Ltd will now move these robots from trial activity into routine, business-as-usual operations. The work will also support the development of an NDA-wide roadmap for quadrupedal platforms. This will help other sites benefit from the technology.

Our next steps include:

Embedding Spot into routine operations

We will expand the regular use of these robots across priority facilities.

Improving digital integration

Robotics data will be linked with 3D visualisation tools, digital twins and existing plant information systems.

This will give us clearer, real-time situational awareness.

Developing new payloads and tools

We will work with partners to design and test new payloads and sensing packs.

These will support a wider range of decommissioning tasks. These include radiological mapping, asset condition assessments and environmental characterisation.

Expanding secure remote-operation capability

Building on the 2025 industry first, we will scale secure remote operation to additional robotic platforms.

We will explore deployment at other NDA sites.

Strengthening cyber security

We'll ensure all robotic technologies meet the strict security requirements of the nuclear sector.

2026/27 - Integrating with more tools and technologies

Over the next two years, we will integrate these robots with more systems, tools and workflows. This will support faster, safer and more consistent decommissioning across the site.

These steps will help move robotics from individual trials to a core part of our work.