DPRTE partner DASA seeks innovations in remote site monitoring technology

Homeland March 28, 2022

Official DPRTE 2022 event partner, the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) has launched a themed competition called Remote Monitoring of Sensitive Sites.

DASA is running the competition on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and will aim to find innovative technologies that help the collection of data remotely on assets, infrastructure and the surrounding environment/ecosystem in order to make more proactive decisions about managing sensitive sites, now and in future without the physical presence of humans.

The NDA is charged with cleaning up the UK’s 17 earliest nuclear sites safely, securely and cost-effectively. It is vital that monitoring, inspection and security capabilities remain fit for purpose, and where appropriate, are continuously improved or enhanced in order to maintain safe, secure and more efficient operations and to inform future decommissioning efforts across the UK.

Remote Monitoring of Sensitive Sites seeks technologies that will help achieve a step change improvement in data capture, and which enables new predictive modelling capabilities to proactively improve decision-making whilst also keeping humans away from harm across the NDA’s estate.

Up to £750k (excl VAT) is available for Phase 1 of the competition, with a maximum of £75k (excl VAT) for each funded proposal.

The closing date for proposals is 18 May 2022.

Effective monitoring of sensitive sites: Key challenges

This competition aims to find the next generation of technologies that will enable effective monitoring of sensitive sites which enhance or significantly improve upon existing methods, and enable a step change in predictive modelling capability.

Proposals should address one or more of the following three challenge areas which will enable the NDA to collect data to enable more effective decision making, without physical presence of humans:

Challenge 1: Built environment and infrastructure

Innovative solutions that enhance the detection, identification, and monitoring of complex and high-value physical assets, including equipment and civil structures. Assets of interest include building rooftops, pipelines, and complex facilities. An ability to undertake automated change detection, remote inspection, and condition monitoring of external assets is also of interest.

Currently, on average, roof inspections are undertaken manually every six to twelve months. The opportunity to conduct more inspections to identify issues as early as possible and on-demand would be hugely beneficial.

Ideally, the innovation should be able to detect:

changes in colour
water collecting
physical anomalies i.e. cracks, texture change
organic growth
thermal changes over time

Challenge 2: Environmental monitoring and land use

Innovative solutions which enable users to remotely monitor and effectively report on the use of land and environmental aspects of the NDA estate, such as:

early warning of water effects
monitoring air quality
change in vegetation around a site
monitoring site/non-site interface e.g. traffic surveys
environmental impact on and around sites e.g. coastal erosion, monitoring a subsea wellhead and borehole on the seabed

Currently, monitoring systems involve physical sensors at a variety of locations on a site by site basis. Data capture is manual and does not allow for easy aggregation of data or integration and analysis of different data types, which is labour and time intensive.

Challenge 3: Security and resilience

Innovative solutions to ensure NDA sites remain safe and secure in a resource constrained environment, and deliver proportionate security in line with the site risk reduction curve during the decommissioning process.

NDA is interested in innovative capabilities that enable:

perimeter monitoring of sensitive sites remotely and/or from an autonomous vantage point
resilient and real time hazard, risk and threat identification
autonomous interdiction capability (the action of intercepting and preventing the movement of a prohibited commodity or person)
intelligence-based alerting system

If you have a solution or technology that may help the NDA better monitor site infrastructure, the environment, or improve the security and resilience of sensitive sites, DASA would like to hear from you. Read the full competition document to submit a proposal.

DASA is an official DPRTE event partner

Taking place at Farnborough International on May 5th, DPRTE 2022 is the UK’s leading defence procurement and supply chain event.

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