Robotics
Technical discipline
Pioneering fusion robotics for a sustainable future
At the UKAEA’s centre for Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE), we specialise in designing, building, and operating robotic systems for extreme industrial environments. Our work is central to enabling fusion power plants to operate safely and efficiently, with robotic systems performing inspection, maintenance, repair, and waste management tasks that are unsafe or impractical for humans.
Robotics will shape how future fusion power plants are designed, constructed, and maintained. Minimising downtime is essential to reducing costs and maximising energy output, making remote maintenance a key design driver. RACE develops advanced remote handling systems for leading fusion projects, collaborating with industry, academia, and international partners to solve complex engineering challenges.
Maintenance conditions in a fusion power plant
Dose rates may reach 3 kGy per hour
During maintenance, components may be as hot as 500 K
Maintenance ports are long and narrow, often shared with other equipment, and may reach up to 5 m into the vessel
Maintenance may need to be performed at vacuum pressure
Residual magnetic fields are expected to be around 40 mT
Components may contain hazardous materials like lithium and beryllium
Capabilities
RACE delivers world-class expertise in remote operations, supporting complex scientific and engineering projects across fusion energy and beyond. With decades of hands-on experience, our team designs, tests, and implements advanced remote handling systems that enable safe, efficient maintenance in challenging environments. From training international teams to leading the development of cutting-edge facilities, RACE integrates remote handling requirements into every stage of design and delivery – ensuring operational resilience for the world’s most ambitious research programmes.
Team expertise
RACE was established in 2014, bringing together 69 engineers from across UKAEA and building on the experience of developing remote handling systems for JET – the Joint European Torus.
The team is truly diverse, comprising over 300 mechanical, electrical, and cybernetics engineers from the UK and around the world.
RACE has developed specialist skills and gained unique, valuable insights in robotics and remote maintenance systems, enabling tasks to be carried out in challenging environments where people cannot work.
Our work in progress
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Active Cells Facility for the European Spallation Source
Delivering the world’s largest windowless hot cell.
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Collaborative Robotics Research
Pioneering robotics innovation through close collaboration with academic partners.
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DEMO: Demonstrating commercial fusion energy
Developing concepts for the maintenance of the world’s most ambitious fusion energy project.
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Digital tools and infrastructure
Developing an in-house suite of software for performing remote tasks using robotics in challenging environments.
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ITER Robotics Test Facility
Ensuring that ITER, the world’s largest fusion experiment, can be remotely maintained.
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LongOps: Faster and safer decommissioning
Developing digital tools to enable faster, safer and more cost-effective decommissioning.
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RAICo: Robotics and AI Collaboration
Solving shared nuclear decommissioning and fusion engineering challenges by accelerating deployment of robotics and AI.
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STEP Fusion: Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production
STEP Fusion is a UK-led, world-leading programme bringing government and industry together to develop fusion energy.
Facilities
RACE operates from a state-of-the-art building on the UKAEA site in Culham, Oxfordshire, home to some of the world’s leading facilities for developing remote handling robotics. From this hub, we design, build, and test systems vital to the future of fusion energy and other advanced technologies. Our spaces are open to collaboration, providing a dynamic environment for joint innovation and development.
We can test and evaluate any robotic system for fusion and beyond. The variety of what we can test here is massive! From mock-ups of fusion plant components, to enabling mobile robot to autonomously operate and gather data in a real world setting, through to handling, haptics, VR – we do anything and everything ‘robot’. There’s always something fascinating being trialled in the building.
– Oliver Huke, Robotics Test Facilities Manager
Our facilities include:
- the RACE Workhall
- National Nuclear User Facility for Hot Robotics
- Autonomous Vehicle Development
- RAICo1
Consultancy
Enabling industry is one of our top priorities, and our team provides essential skills, knowledge and support when it comes to remote handling in extreme environments.
Training
Remote Operations Training
RACE offers a training course offers a unique opportunity for professionals to gain hands-on experience and strategic insight into the world of remote handling and robotics. This immersive 4-day programme is designed for managers, designers, and operators seeking to enhance safety, efficiency, and innovation in high-risk industrial settings.
