RAICo1 robotics and AI testing facility, Whitehaven
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration (RAICo)Whitehaven, Cumbria
RAICo1 in Whitehaven provides collaborative robotics and AI research, development, testing and demonstration in representative nuclear-site environments. The owner and UKAEA identify gloveboxes for manipulating and sorting simulated hazardous waste and water tanks for remotely operated vehicles. A separate Manchester NNUF-HR catalogue explicitly lists equipment at RAICo1. Agree the trial, equipment and access arrangement through the published enquiry routes.
Reviewed by Arc · About this review
Key facts
- Exact Whitehaven facility
- The owner gives RAICo1, William Pit Industrial Estate, Whitehaven CA28 6AU. Its local page and UKAEA identify Cumbria and collaborative R&D/testing. Culham’s workhall and Workington’s laboratory are separate sites.
- Current programme partners
- RAICo and UKAEA list UKAEA, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, Sellafield Ltd, the University of Manchester and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies. This is the programme partnership, separate from a verified joint legal operator of every facility.
- Representative trial environments
- UKAEA allocates remotely operated gloveboxes for manipulating and sorting simulated hazardous waste and ROV water tanks to Whitehaven RAICo1. The owner describes environments mirroring those at Sellafield. This does not establish actual radioactive-material testing or work on the Sellafield site.
- Two published enquiry routes
- The owner publishes enquiries@raico.org. The Manchester RAICo1 NNUF-HR catalogue separately publishes nnuf-hr@manchester.ac.uk. No local telephone, present named-person role, accepted booking or available slot was verified.
Testing capabilities
Representative glovebox robotic trials
Whitehaven RAICo1 houses remotely operated gloveboxes for manipulating and sorting simulated hazardous waste. The owner offers technology testing in environments mirroring Sellafield. Agree the task, tools, simulant and acceptance criteria because this does not establish actual radiation exposure or a numerical glovebox envelope.
ROV water-tank development and demonstration
UKAEA identifies water tanks for remotely operated vehicles at RAICo1. The local Manchester NNUF-HR catalogue lists a water tank/pond, BlueROV2 and Deeptrekker DTG 3. Published names do not establish tank dimensions, usable depth, vehicle pressure limits or present availability.
Collaborative robotic-system research and demonstrations
RAICo1 is a Whitehaven collaborative R&D/testing facility with research and demonstration environments. Its Manchester NNUF-HR space supports researchers working with nuclear engineers and operations staff, and lists local manipulators, mobile platforms and sensor equipment. Agree the robot, hardware/software setup, data collection and reporting basis rather than infer a validated AI performance or accredited method.
Equipment and published limits
| Specification | Published value | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| Whitehaven gloveboxes | Remotely operated gloveboxes for simulated-waste manipulation and sorting | Exact local UKAEA/owner description. No internal dimensions, payload, containment rating, radiation-exposure limit or hazardous-material permission was verified. |
| Water tanks and listed submersibles | Water tank/pond, BlueROV2 and Deeptrekker DTG 3 | Exact Manchester RAICo1 catalogue and UKAEA tank allocation. No volume, depth, pressure, water-condition or available-trial envelope was verified. |
| Selected local manipulators and mobile platforms | Haption Virtuouse 6D TAO, Kinova Gen3 7DOF, KUKA LBR Iiwa 14 R820, Reach Robotics Alpha 5, A1 Robot Dog, Unitree Go1, AgileX Scout 2.0 and Husarion ROSbot 2.0 Pro | Selected names from the explicitly local catalogue. Model numbers do not establish verified reach, payload, mobility performance or current equipment availability. |
| Selected local sensors and visualisation equipment | FLIR Benchtop Thermal Camera, Intel Realsense L-515, Ouster OS0-128, Ouster OS1-64, Varjo XR-3 and Waterlinked DVL | Selected catalogue names only. No numerical accuracy, coverage, calibration status or suitability for a particular environment was verified. |
Access and contact
Use enquiries@raico.org for the published RAICo enquiry route or nnuf-hr@manchester.ac.uk for the separate Manchester NNUF-HR catalogue route at Whitehaven. The site is described as collaborative R&D/testing with representative demonstration environments. Agree the proposed trial, equipment and simulants, safety responsibilities, access terms, fees and eligibility, available dates and reporting requirements. No automatic programme entitlement or accepted booking was verified.
Facility contact
- Address
- William Pit Industrial Estate
Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 6AU
United Kingdom - enquiries@raico.org
- Website
- Official test house website
Standards and accreditation
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
What to confirm with the facility
- The checked local sources give qualitative trial environments and catalogue names. No quantitative glovebox/tank/robot envelope, present availability, calibration status, exact accredited method or AI acceptance threshold was verified.
- Glovebox work explicitly uses simulated hazardous waste. Representative Sellafield-like environments do not establish nuclear-site access, radioactive-material handling or radiation, vacuum, temperature or pressure testing.
- Culham workhall equipment, crane ratings, NIST lanes and campus roads belong to the separate RACE site. Workington laboratory equipment and phone routes are also separate. No such capability or contact has been transferred to Whitehaven.
- Confirm the proposed task, robot and tools, simulated material or tank setup, measurements, acceptance criteria, access responsibilities and report deliverables with the provider.
Before requesting a test
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Frequently asked questions
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Related testing facilities
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Further reading
Public information not available. Contact test facility provider for more information.
Sources and review
Reviewed by Arc on 1 October 2026 in Europe/London using eight fresh official captures. Exact Whitehaven RAICo1 identity and William Pit Industrial Estate CA28 6AU address are verified from owner and UKAEA pages. The current five programme partners are recorded separately from facility legal-operation claims, replacing the imported partnership description. Exact local remotely operated glovebox trials retain the simulated hazardous-waste qualifier, and ROV water tanks remain qualitative. The explicitly linked Manchester RAICo1 catalogue supports selected local equipment names without numerical ranges, calibration, present availability or accredited testing inferred. Current owner enquiries@raico.org is corroborated by original protected attribute, protected link and publisher metadata. The separate nnuf-hr@manchester.ac.uk catalogue route is corroborated by a literal link and protected attributes. Original email derivations, raw hashes and exact locators are retained, with no delivery claimed. No local telephone or present named-person role is asserted. Culham workhall/cranes/NIST lanes/roads, fusion maintenance application figures and Workington equipment or contact routes are excluded. Original bodies, headers, requested/effective URLs, titles, canonicals, metadata and visible inspections are retained. Publisher 2021/2023 catalogue dates, 2024/2025 facility/contact dates, 2026 programme metadata and sidebar news are separate from this review. Both prior seed originals differ in raw bytes from fresh captures while full normalised visible text and publisher metadata agree, without an all-link equality claim. Imported coordinates and unsupported environmental/inspection categories are cleared.
Arc publishes this directory entry and does not operate the test facility. Suggest a correction to Arc with a supporting source.
Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration | RAICo
Current owner identifies RAICo and five programme partners: UKAEA, NDA, Sellafield Ltd, University of Manchester and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies. Programme partnership is kept separate from a claim of joint legal facility operation. Current homepage update/news dates do not date each facility service or confirm every programme deployment at Whitehaven.
RAICo: Robotics and AI Collaboration | UKAEA Fusion Energy
UKAEA corroborates five programme partners and specifically locates RAICo1 at Whitehaven, with research/development/demonstration gloveboxes for simulated hazardous-waste manipulation/sorting and water tanks for ROVs. Other programme themes, future deployments and savings claims do not establish local equipment range or actual radioactive-material authorisation.
Robotics facilities | UKAEA Fusion Energy
Exact RAICo1 heading identifies collaborative R&D/testing in Whitehaven, Cumbria. Culham workhall area/cranes/NIST lanes/campus roads are separate preceding headings and are excluded from Whitehaven capabilities.
Exact owner Whitehaven, Cumbria site offers technology tests in environments mirroring Sellafield, with gloveboxes and water tanks. This is representative-environment development, not testing on Sellafield or demonstrated radiation/pressure/temperature limits.
Current RAICo1 address William Pit Industrial Estate, Whitehaven CA28 6AU. Protected original attribute and link fragment independently decode enquiries@raico.org, corroborated by original Article description. No telephone or current named-person role verified. Public enquiry route is not an accepted booking.
The University of Manchester - Hot Robotics
Exact facility heading and navigation identify University of Manchester RAICo1 Whitehaven. Local catalogue robot/manipulator/sensor/submersible/tank inventory is site-specific and qualitative. Separate Manchester NNUF-HR email literal link and two protected attributes retained. 2021/2023 publisher metadata distinct from review and inventory availability. Footer RACE/Workington/Bristol routes and equipment are separate.
Robotics | UKAEA Fusion Energy
Imported UKAEA overview lists RAICo1 among a wider portfolio but primarily describes Culham robotics and fusion maintenance application conditions. It supplies no Whitehaven numeric test range or equipment allocation. Exact current body and prior seed retained.
RACE, Remote Applications in Challenging Environments - Hot Robotics
Imported seed is the separate RACE Culham equipment catalogue. Its navigation/footer link to Manchester RAICo1 Whitehaven was followed to the exact local catalogue. RACE/Workington phones, equipment and Culham address are excluded. Prior/fresh raw bytes differ while complete visible text and publisher metadata agree.