24 of robotic systems. RAICo unites researchers and application experts from the university, UKAEA, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and Sellafield to co-operate on the development and deployment of robotic solutions on the Sellafield site, the decommissioning of the JET fusion reactor in Culham, and across the NDA’s nuclear estate. Lennox acknowledges many people he has encountered through his education and career as mentors. These include his PhD supervisor, Montague, and Professor David Sandoz, who taught him about control systems and their commercialisation, Richard Taylor, professor of nuclear engineering at Manchester University, fellow members of the UK Government’s Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), and his RAICo collaborator, Rob Buckingham. As a mentor himself, Lennox sometimes faces the delicate task of advising young engineers about working in an industry that divides opinion. After all, they will be the ones who tackle what Lennox sees as the next frontier for robotics in nuclear decommissioning. “I tend to highlight that whether someone is supportive or not of nuclear energy, there are considerable robotic challenges in the nuclear industry, which are focused on cleaning up nuclear waste that was created many years ago and needs to be safely processed,” he says. Future manipulation “Most of the initial applications of robots have been in characterisation. This is relatively straightforward in some respects because you are just trying to understand what materials are there and you don’t need to touch anything,” he says. “The next stage is more difficult and involves manipulating radioactive materials – moving them into storage drums or just moving them from one location to another. And, if possible, doing this automatically.” His remaining ambition is to see RAICo become a long-term success. “If we get it right it can become a shop window that demonstrates the potential of developing and applying robotic systems into a highly regulated sector.” Formerly a keen cyclist and hillwalker, Lennox is currently recovering from a stroke he suffered in 2024. “Walking to the local coffee shop can now be a challenge, but I still have hopes that I’ll be able to walk up all the Wainwright hills in the Lake District.” April/May 2025 | Uncrewed Systems Technology In conversation | Professor Barry Lennox Barry Lennox is professor of applied control in the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester. He held the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) chair in nuclear decommissioning in 2012-14, and holds a Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) chair in emerging technology (2019-29). He is a fellow of the RAEng, a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), and the Institute of Measurement and Control (InstMC), and a chartered engineer. Lennox received a BEng in Chemical Engineering and a PhD in control systems from Newcastle University, and before being appointed a lecturer in control systems at the University of Manchester in 1997, he worked as a research associate and fellow at Newcastle and Monash Universities. Professor Barry Lennox Developed as a collaboration between UoM and Dounreay Site Restoration to inspect and take swabs as it explored underground ducting in the legacy Dounreay nuclear laboratories in north Scotland, Lyra was deployed successfully in 2022, saving Dounreay approximately £5 million (Image courtesy of the University of Manchester)
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