RAS safety: a barrier or an opportunity for growth?

Rav Chunilal

Rav Chunilal is the head of robotics and artificial intelligence at Sellafield Ltd, the UK’s largest nuclear site. He is responsible for developing and deploying robotics and AI technologies to decommission the site safely, efficiently, and cost-effectively.

His appointment in 2001 was as part of a move by Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to focus on investing in robotics, autonomous systems and artificial intelligence as a key part of accelerating the safe delivery of the nuclear decommissioning mission.

Rav has united different teams to work together across Sellafield and other nuclear sites around the UK.  The collaborations have also extended to other government organisations and academia to share knowledge more effectively. Sellafield and the NDA have expanded their mission to share knowledge in the form of quarterly forums bringing together operators from across the industry and supply chain.

The advancements made by Sellafield and NDA's robotics capability include research and deployment of robotics to clearing nuclear waste, inspecting buildings and equipment, and sorting and segregating wastes.  These efforts have made Sellafield a leader in the nuclear industry for applying robotics and AI technologies.

Cuebong Wong

Cuebong Wong (PhD, MEng, MIET) is a senior robotic systems technologist within National Nuclear Laboratory’s Remote Engineering, Design and Robotics team.

He is a technical lead for robotic systems development, leading on software design, development, verification, and systems integration across robotics development lifecycle projects for nuclear decommissioning. Cuebong serves as the theme lead for NNL’s Robotics Core Science Theme, delivering an internal research programme and working in collaboration with university partners on emerging robotics technology to meet current and future needs of the nuclear sector. He is an active industrial supervisor for collaborative PhD projects, supporting research in areas of soft robotics, size reduction, inspection, non-destructive testing, and multi-robot control and coordination.

Cuebong is a software lead on a robotics development project that aims to remove humans from radiological and conventional hazards in nuclear store activities at Sellafield site.

Michael Sinclair-Williams

Michael is currently the Group HSQE director for RES (Renewable Energy  Systems), he has been fortunate to work across a number of high profile projects and in a number of sectors. He holds a First degree in environmental engineering, an MBA and a PhD in TQM and risk. He is passionate about technology and how it can be used to improve performance.

Anneka Wilson