2023 World Nuclear Exhibition (WNE) Innovation Award - ORANEF & dosiX
The WNE is a prestigious and international event dedicated to civil nuclear power, where industry leaders gather to shape the future of the field. During its latest edition, the traditional Innovation Awards ceremony was held and recognised the work of Orano's team with two prizes, including one for Oranef, a foldable drone developed within the framework of the udd@Orano project
This year, nearly 130 innovative projects (including 23 from Orano), competed in five categories: "Social and Environmental Responsibility", "Nuclear Safety", "Knowledge and Skills Management", "Operational Excellence" and "Products and Services."
Winner of the "Nuclear Safety" category, Oranef is a foldable drone can be inserted into a 100 mm diameter endoscope hole to access sensitive areas during inspection operations in nuclear facilities. Combined with DosiX, a miniaturized optical fiber sensor, this device allows for a better control of radiological risks and for the safety of operators.
Oranef was developed within the framework of the «udd@Orano - Usines De Demain sur les sites industriels d’Orano», a project that aims at accelerating the deployment of the «factory of the future» at the heart of the group’s nuclear industrial sites, and in which our MOPERE team is actively involved. The objective is to leverage the expertise of the project's partners to develop and implement new technological solutions aimed at enhancing performance, optimizing production, improving factory competitiveness, and ensuring operators' safety. Innovative solutions are under development, such as miniaturized sensors for more efficient radiological measurements, new algorithms based on Artificial Intelligence to facilitate decision-making and anticipation of actions, mixed reality platforms based on 3D digital models and dematerialization of flows to assist operators in their missions, new robots for remote complex operations and automation of simple tasks. These new solutions will not only be applicable to Orano’s industrial sites, but also to the nuclear industry and the French industry as a whole.
Congratulations to the team!