This project is sponsored by the Centre for Innovative Nuclear Decommissioning Engineering (CINDe). The Centre is a partnership between Manchester, Lancaster and Liverpool Universities, together with Sellafield Ltd and the National Nuclear Laboratory. Its mission is to innovate and deliver future engineering leaders, supporting the UK’s nuclear decommissioning programme in west Cumbria.

Within CINDe, this Lancaster University Engineering Department project involves research into mobile sensor networks. Sensor networks have great potential to contribute innovative technologies in condition monitoring and inspection of the nuclear legacy. Compared to a traditional fixed sensor network, endowing mobility by using UAV, AUV or wheel-based robots has the potential for superior performance in terms of adaptability and high-resolution sampling capability. This is especially important in dynamic and hazardous environments which are inaccessible for measurements by humans.