Sellafield decommissioning in the round: immersive planning lessons for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
AtkinsRéalis and Igloo Vision have delivered a 360° immersive visualisation facility at Sellafield’s RAICo1 centre in West Cumbria, accommodating around ten users and integrating remotely operated robotics with live data streaming to plan nuclear decommissioning. The system lets teams virtually walk restricted-area routes using real-time imagery from robotic platforms, with Sellafield estimating up to a 40% reduction in time spent in hazardous environments. Linked with the Immersion Room at Hinton House, Cheshire, the setup creates a connected ecosystem for simulation-based planning, training and rapid response to emerging site conditions.
Technical Brief
- Facility is embedded within Sellafield’s RAICo1 robotics and AI hub, concentrating innovation adjacent to operational assets.
- AtkinsRéalis integrated Igloo’s platform directly with Sellafield’s existing digital information systems and operational data structures.
- Early-stage co-design between AtkinsRéalis, Igloo and Sellafield engineers ensured layouts, interfaces and workflows matched site procedures.
- Hinton House’s Immersion Room in Risley already runs simulation models of specific Sellafield nuclear facilities for planning.
- A further immersive capability is being developed on the main Sellafield site, extending coverage from R&D to frontline operations.
- Combined ecosystem links innovation, planning and execution so decommissioning methods are rehearsed virtually before field deployment, reducing unplanned exposure.
- For other high-hazard sectors, similar immersive–robotics integration could formalise “virtual first” safety checks before any confined-space or radiological entry.
Our Take
AtkinsRéalis features repeatedly in our infrastructure coverage, from Yorkshire Water’s AMP8 framework to Transport for London’s PSF3, signalling that the immersive planning work at Sellafield strengthens its position as a go‑to adviser for complex, safety‑critical assets in the UK public sector.
The 40% expected reduction in time spent in hazardous environments at the West Cumbrian Sellafield site aligns with other safety‑tagged pieces in our database where digital rehearsal and remote operation are being used to de‑risk legacy infrastructure rather than only new‑build schemes.
The deployment of immersive facilities at both RAICo1 in West Cumbria and Hinton House in Cheshire suggests Sellafield Ltd is building a distributed planning and training ecosystem, which could become a template for other UK nuclear decommissioning programmes being scoped by bodies such as Great British Energy – Nuclear.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
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