The Orano group and its partners are launching a development project known as udd@Orano (for Usines De Demain (Plants of Tomorrow) on Orano industrial sites) in order to accelerate deployment of the plant of the future on the group’s industrial sites.
Coordinated by Orano, this project brings together 11 industrial partners for a period of 36 months: 6 VSB-SMEs (Aeraccess, Axionable, Diota, Ob’dO, Shark Robotics, Siléane), 2 large companies (Predict, Probayes) and 3 research organizations (CEA, Ecole des Mines de Saint-Etienne and Université Jean Monnet de Saint-Etienne).
For the duration of the project, Orano and its partners will be pooling their expertise to develop and implement new technological solutions. For example, their work will focus on the design of innovative miniaturized sensors for more efficient radiological measurement. New algorithms based on artificial intelligence (AI) will also be developed to facilitate decision-making support and anticipation of actions. Mixed reality platforms using 3D digital models and the dematerialization of flows will help operators working in constrained environments. And new robots will be developed to perform complex remote operations and automate simple tasks.
These new solutions, applicable both to the nuclear sector and industry as a whole, aim to ensure that Orano’s industrial sites continue to operate at the highest technological levels in order to improve performance, production, plant competitiveness and operator safety. They will also support the development and growth of VSB-SME partners by promoting the disruptive technological solutions developed in the framework of the project. Lastly, they will facilitate the development of new knowledge and innovative technological building blocks, helping to strengthen the industrial base of France as a whole.
The udd@Orano project meets the criteria of the economic stimulus plan introduced by the French government. Under the plan, it benefits from a subsidy of €10.48m awarded by France Relance to all the partners involved.
The project offers the prospect of significant economic benefits, including additional turnover of more than €11m per year from 2025 for its VSB and SME partners, and the creation of more than 70 skilled direct jobs in France and a similar number of indirect ones.
As a recognized international operator in the field of nuclear materials, Orano delivers solutions to address present and future global energy and health challenges.
Its expertise and mastery of cutting-edge technologies enable Orano to offer its customers high value-added products and services throughout the entire fuel cycle.
Every day, the Orano group’s 16,500 employees draw on their skills, unwavering dedication to safety and constant quest for innovation, with the commitment to develop know-how in the transformation and control of nuclear materials, for the climate and for a healthy and resource-efficient world, now and tomorrow.
According to Nathalie Collignon, Director of Innovation: “for Orano, the udd@Orano project will help make the plants on our operational industrial sites even more efficient, through the adoption of an environmentally-responsible strategy to enhance operator safety and workshop productivity. For our partners, it’s an opportunity to validate the innovative solutions they are developing, at full scale under real industrial conditions, so that they can consolidate their industrial positioning in the nuclear power sector or diversify into others, thanks to the development of these new products.”
Discover the UDD project in Video ⇩⇩⇩
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