Digital Catapult has collaborated with Sellafield Ltd to run a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) Field Lab to explore how distributed systems and distributed ledger technology can be used to solve current and future nuclear industry challenges.
Zero trust fabric provider RKVST has shown how it can help safely and securely digitise processes for nuclear waste data tracking – creating a secure, irrefutable way to maintain the integrity of data while ensuring visibility for multiple stakeholders and organisations.
RKVST was selected to partner with Sellafield to solve the challenge of digitising nuclear waste data tracking and Digital Catapult has now published the results of that project in its Sellafield DLT Field Lab Report.
Nuclear waste containers are highly regulated, critical assets. The nuclear industry currently relies on paper-based processes and human verification throughout the lifecycle of each waste container. The challenge was to use advanced digital technologies to create a secure, irrefutable way of maintaining the integrity of this data across extended timelines (from decades to centuries) whilst ensuring visibility for multiple stakeholders and organisations.
RKVST combines cloud-based storage, identity and access management, and permissioned blockchain to deliver continuous assurance in shared asset data. For this project the RKVST zero trust fabric:
- Provides global waste asset visibility
- Ensures compliance with waste acceptance criteria
- Allows device-agnostic access
- Delivers continuous information assurance with accessibility, security, and resilience
- Integrates with IIoT (industrial internet of things) sensors
- Results in cost savings and process improvements
Says Jon Geater, Chief Technology and Product Officer, RKVST: “With one in every five steps of the overall nuclear waste tracking process currently including a paper form or manual traceability requirement, introducing indelible and persistent audit trails will be critical for the long-term safety and security of the UK’s nuclear waste.
“Cryptographically protected records provide traceability and information integrity of nuclear waste assets both in transit and in storage at various sites. With a DLT-based system such as RKVST, these events are evidenced by an assured, auditable log of historic events which is an irrefutable and immutable record of what has happened, when it happened, and who was responsible for the event.
“We feel privileged to have partnered with Digital Catapult and Sellafield to demonstrate the benefits of adopting distributed systems to solve modern day business problems.”
Dr Robert Learney, Head of Technology, Distributed Systems at Digital Catapult explains further: “There are wide ranging benefits that distributed ledger technologies can bring to the nuclear industry from securely tracking and monitoring high value assets to ensuring the safety of the workforce on site, and we are delighted to have partnered with Sellafield on this ground breaking project.
“This report demonstrates how cutting edge DLT solutions such as RKVST zero trust fabric can help tackle real life business critical challenges and make a tangible impact on the UK’s nuclear industry.”