CUMBRIAN firms are being given grants of £5000 in a bid to come up with new ideas to help speed up decommissioning at Sellafield.

The programme of grants, run by Innovus, is called Game Changers and reflect its purpose to support new technologies and concepts at an early stage.

The scheme is being sponsored by Sellafield and is open to businesses of all sizes.

It is designed to let innovative firms explore and research brand new ideas and concepts.

Organisers also want to encourage the transferal of ideas from other industries, and promise to back research into how ideas from various industries could be applied to nuclear.

Innovus is an National Nuclear Labroratory organisation that already supports business innovation with match funding.

Adrian Davis-Johnston, Innovus programme manager, said: “If you’ve got an idea that can accelerate decommissioning or make operation safer we want to know about it.

“We are going to get ideas that are at a very early stage.

“But how do you know if it’s a good or bonkers idea unless you’ve done some research?

“We will allow companies to look at the market potential and articulate that idea. Its open to everybody, from small businesses to universities and larger firms.”

Innovus says that ‘new’ refers to non-standard technologies and approaches that perhaps address our specific needs.

An example would be to use virtual engineering to minimize radiation to operators by considering what they do, how long they take and where they go.

All intellectual property (IP) rights stay with the proposer, so neither Sellafield or Innovus have any IP rights over your ideas. 

Mr Davis-Johnston added: “We want innovative proposals which state clearly the technology development needed to realise the innovation and the expected timescale for technology maturation."

Statements giving an indication of which areas would most benefit from innovative new ideas will be released via social media by Innovus.

To apply now click here.