Standing in the oldest part of the Sellafield site, the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo has stored nuclear waste in its water-filled chambers for the last 60 years.

Once a vital part of the nation’s nuclear energy generation, the building stored the casings removed from used fuel rods from Magnox reactors so that the fuel inside could be reprocessed.

Now, due to the age of the building, the contents held inside, and the fact that it was never built with decommissioning in mind, it is one of the most hazardous nuclear facilities on the Sellafield site and in the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s (NDA) estate.

Today, teams at Sellafield are starting to remove the waste held inside, putting it into purpose-built stainless steel waste containers and moving it to modern storage on the site.

The Magnox Swarf Storage Silo

Head of programme delivery for Magnox Swarf Storage Silo, Chris Halliwell, heads up the team and explains some of the challenges they have faced. He said:

This is the culmination of decades of preparation by hundreds of people across our Sellafield Ltd and supply chain.

As well as maintaining the original concrete structure of the building, we have designed and are installing purpose-built retrieval machines.

The first of our 3 retrievals machines has now started the job which will take another 20 or so years to complete. Our teams use this machine to reach down into the compartment of the silo, grab waste from inside, and put it inside containers that have been designed and manufactured for the job.

Eventually those metal waste boxes will be held safely inside a new highly engineered store currently being built on site. So that we can get waste out as soon as possible, we are making use of existing stores at Sellafield until the new one is ready.

All of the waste will eventually be sent to a geological disposal facility when that becomes available.

Once empty of waste, our attention will turn to decommissioning and ultimately knocking down the silo building.

David Peattie, group chief executive of the NDA, said:

The start of retrievals from Magnox Swarf Storage Silo is a major milestone in our decommissioning mission and an excellent example of the pioneering work taking place on our sites.

It is testament to the years of hard work to safely, securely, and cost-effectively manage the UK’s nuclear legacy.

Sellafield Ltd chief executive, Martin Chown, said:

This first step towards emptying the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo is a huge step towards delivering our purpose of creating a clean and safe environment for future generations.

Everyone involved, whether they are at the front line of this retrieval work or building the new facilities that we need to safely store the waste retrieved, should be proud of what they have achieved. I am proud of them.

Today (9 June 2022), my department launches a public consultation on the primary legislative changes required to deliver structural reform of our railways.

This follows publication of the Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail (‘Plan for Rail’) in May 2021 which heralded the start of the biggest transformation of Great Britain’s railways in 3 decades, and announcement in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May 2022 to introduce a Transport Bill to Parliament which will modernise rail services, put passengers and freight customers first, deliver for taxpayers and combine the best of the public and private sectors.

The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail highlighted the need for change. It was clear our railways had become fragmented, the system was complicated, and passengers deserved better. This alongside spiralling costs, delays to upgrades and commercial failures pointed to a railway in need of fundamental reform. Getting this right means we can ensure this historic industry delivers for its users, setting it on a more sustainable and secure footing. It also means delivering a stronger, more levelled up and increasingly green economy, of which the railways are a crucial part.

Many of the commitments set out in the Plan for Rail do not require legislation in order to take forward, and the government is already working in close partnership with the rail industry to deliver rapid improvements for passengers and freight customers. For example, new flexible season tickets went on sale last summer and we continue to work with train operators to roll-out digital ticketing to make journeys easier. We are also undertaking a comprehensive accessibility audit of stations across Great Britain, continuing to cut the costs and time of infrastructure work through Project SPEED and developing a 30-year whole industry strategic plan.

In addition to this, we have launched the Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT), under the leadership of Andrew Haines, to drive forward reforms and develop the model for a new arms-length body, Great British Railways, including its initial structure, leadership and people.

GBRTT is focused on establishing a new, customer-focused, industry culture, driving revenue recovery efforts and establishing an Interim Strategic Freight Unit to work collaboratively with the sector, ensuring an immediate focus on delivery of the government’s ambitions for rail freight. GBRTT is also currently overseeing a competition for the location of a national headquarters for Great British Railways, to be based outside of London, in line with this government’s commitment to levelling up.

However, primary legislation is required to deliver key elements of structural reform set out in the Plan for Rail. This includes providing Great British Railways, with the powers and authority it needs to act as the single guiding mind for the railways, ending years of fragmentation. The consultation launched today seeks views of all those with an interest in our railways, to help shape these reforms.

The consultation is focused across 3 key areas as outlined below.

The first is on the establishment of Great British Railways, including its proposed functions and duties and how we propose to legislate and work with stakeholders to enable Great British Railways to become the single guiding mind for the railways.

The second is focused on how we will ensure clear accountabilities in the rail sector through a new governance framework, including the regulator’s role in providing independent scrutiny and challenge.

The third centres on reform of wider industry structures and processes that are needed to deliver transformation of the railways and a new industry culture, including a new Passenger Champion role for Transport Focus and proposals for open data sharing.

Great British Railways is key to delivering a customer-focused railway. The plans outlined in this consultation will deliver a rail system that is the backbone of a cleaner, greener public transport system, offering passengers and freight customers a better deal and greater value for money for taxpayers.

The private sector has played an integral role in improving our railways over the past 25 years – these plans are designed to take the best of the private sector and fuse it with a single guiding mind that can drive benefits and efficiencies across the system as a whole.

I hope that all of those with an interest in our railways will find the time to participate and share their views through this consultation. Sharing your views will help to ensure the legislative changes we enact will deliver the vision set out in the Plan for Rail, securing our railways so that they are able to flourish into the future and as we approach their bicentenary in 2025.

After a careful selection process, the British Embassy in Argentina has announced that six Argentine young women aged between 18 and 22 are the winners of the “Ambassador for a day” competition, which will give them a first-hand experience of diplomatic work and enable them to join a network of female leaders from different countries in the region.

The programme aims to promote women’s inclusion in different areas of work and society as a whole and contribute to their empowerment by providing more tools for them to fully develop their potential.

In the area of Democracy and Human Rights, the selected candidates who will become “ambassadors for one day” are Abril Gargiulo (21, law student at University of Buenos Aires) and Macarena Vergara (22, political science student at Argentine Catholic University). In the area of Economic Relations and Trade, the winners were Federica Miriani (21, international relations student at National University of Rosario) and Lara Milewicz (20, international relations student at University of San Martín). In the area of science and innovation, the winner was Paloma Rieznik (18, data science student at University of Buenos Aires), and in the area of Climate Change the selected candidate was Florencia González (22, environment and renewable energy student at Universidad Empresarial Siglo 21).

The winners of the competition will have the opportunity to join British Ambassador Kirsty Hayes and other members of the diplomatic mission in activities relevant to their chosen area of interest, attend meetings of the Embassy’s work teams, get to know some of the organisations and experts that the Embassy works with, join the Latin American network of Ambassadors for a Day and take part in virtual or in-person meetings with British ambassadors and deputy heads of mission, access increased opportunities to attend courses or talks on women’s empowerment and participate in future British Embassy events and activities relating to their field of interest.

After hearing the results, British Ambassador to Argentina Kirsty Hayes, said:

“We are delighted with the great reception that this competition has had and the huge potential shown by the candidates. The Embassy is proud to have launched for the first time an initiative of this kind, which aims to promote women’s inclusion and increased participation in society.

“I really look forward to welcoming the ambassadors for one day and including them in some of the activities we do. I will be delighted to hear their views and contribute to their training.”

More than 110 women took part in the competition, aimed at university students or recent graduates. As part of the selection process, candidates were required to send a video reply to the question: “Why do you want to be ambassador for a day?”, answer an online questionnaire and, in the final round, have an interview with Embassy officers. The winners will be contacted in the next few weeks to agree on a date for their participation in Embassy activities.

• The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched a new Themed Competition: It’s Good For Missiles To Talk
• Funded by the Defence and Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl)
• Up to £800K funding available for advanced technologies which can underpin a future cooperative missile

The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) is pleased to launch a new Themed Competition called It’s Good for Missiles to Talk. Run on behalf of the Defence and Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), this Themed Competition aims to identify and develop novel technologies that could be exploited in the development of a new category of missile – cooperative missiles.

Cooperative missiles can communicate with each other, share situational awareness and organise themselves to ‘work together’ efficiently to achieve a common objective. The aim of the work is to investigate how inter-missile communication and cooperative behaviours can be technically achieved to solve UK military challenges.

UK defence systems enabled by AI, including missiles, will always be subject to context appropriate human involvement. For this competition, we are only interested in technologies that could enable cooperation between missiles.

This themed competition focuses on the following challenge areas:

• Challenge 1: Distributed target detection and identification
• Challenge 2: Data processing onboard and between missiles
• Challenge 3: Enhanced navigation through cooperation
• Challenge 4: Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Key dates and funding

Total funding available for Phase 1 is up to £800,000 (ex VAT) and is expected to fund multiple proposals.

The deadline to submit a proposal is midday 2 August 2022.

Do you have an innovation? Read the full competition document and submit a proposal.

It’s Good for Missiles to Talk in complex operational environments

The development of cooperative missiles for future UK missile systems is a novel and key challenge that Defence is seeking to solve.

At the moment, missile development seeks to overmatch adversary capabilities by improving the performance of individual missiles. For example, through use of more sophisticated seekers or navigation systems.

However, through the cooperative missile approach, overmatch can be achieved through leveraging networked technologies. This approach is potentially disruptive because the technologies and sub-systems used in a cooperative missile system will be less complex than current designs, while offering greater performance when working together.

This capability is important because the operating environment for UK missile systems is growing increasingly complex. For example, potential targets are often concealed and are likely to be surrounded by buildings, trees and vegetation, which can make identification and navigation challenging. Cooperative missiles will also be beneficial in environments where Global Navigation Satellite Services (GNSS) is degraded.

Generation-after-next cooperative missiles: Challenge areas

Submitted proposals should choose to target one or all of the below challenge areas.

Challenge 1: Distributed target detection and identification

This challenge area seeks novel ways to detect, recognise and identify intended targets using missile sensors distributed over a cooperative group. For example:

• combining sensor data to build a shared image of the target area, with multiple missiles potentially approaching the target from different directions. Increasing detection and identification range through use of multiple, low-cost sensors
• improving the accuracy of target tracking in a complex scene by combining data from multiple sources
• approaches to the above with homogenous and/ or heterogeneous arrays of sensors

Challenge 2: Data processing onboard and between missiles

This challenge area seeks innovations to process large quantities of data across cooperative missile networks for particular missions. For example:

• distributed processing in a missile environment
• distributed database systems within a cooperative missile network
• edge processing – this is an alternative and complimentary technique to analyse and process strong data at the point of generation
• transmission of data within a limited bandwidth cooperative missile network

Challenge 3: Enhanced navigation through cooperation

This challenge area seeks to understand how novel alternative navigation (AltNav) technologies and distributed navigation sensors can be used. For example:

• use of multiple low cost Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) across the cooperative missile network to improve group navigation
• use of multiple GNSS feeds across the cooperative missile network when some are jammed or degraded to improve group navigation
• use of geolocation using diverse technologies that are distributed across the missile network
• synchronisation of timing information within the cooperative missile network

Challenge 4: Application of Artificial Intelligence

This general challenge area seeks to understand how advances in AI could be exploited in cooperative missile systems. For example:

• improving the robustness of limited bandwidth communications between the cooperative missile network
• optimising the searching of a scene across the distributed cooperative missile network
• target detection in the presence of obscurance (e.g. smoke or camouflage systems) across a distributed cooperative missile network

Want to learn more about these challenge areas? Read the full competition document here.

Webinars and online events

Competition Webinar: 20 June 2022

This webinar will provide more information on the challenge areas and how to submit a proposal. There will be an opportunity to ask questions. If you would like to get involved, please register on the Eventbrite page.

Register now.

Submit a proposal

Do you have a solution or novel approach that may help our ability to develop cooperative missile technologies? Submit an idea and help DASA and Dstl exploit cooperative missiles that can communicate with each other to complete a shared mission.

Read the full competition document to learn more and submit a proposal.