Greg Clark — the Minister for Universities, Science and Cities — visited the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s Culham Science Centre on 22 January to mark the start of the construction phase of a new robotics and remote-handling centre, which will be known as RACE.

Carrying out the ground-breaking ceremony, Mr Clark said: “Robotics is an emerging industry in which the UK has a solid foundation. We have identified robotics as one of our ‘eight great technologies’, and we are committed to supporting the construction of world-leading facilities like RACE. Oxfordshire is a leading light in the robotics industry, and this new centre will highlight the depth and breadth of scientific and research talent in the region.”

When fully operational by the end of the year, the purpose-built 3,000m2 building will play a key role in implementing the Government’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems strategy, which was announced last July. It will capitalise on the remote-handling systems developed at Culham for the Joint European Torus fusion project and will enable customers to apply this knowledge to their own fields.

It will give access to ‘state of the art’ test facilities, robotic equipment and expertise to SMEs, multi-nationals, research laboratories and academics from areas such as space applications, deep-sea exploration, fusion research and the advanced nuclear fission industry.

RACE director Rob Buckingham said: “Robotic technology will be fundamental to the delivery of future nuclear power. In resolving the complex problems that fusion and fission power present, we will be in a much better position to address commercial needs in other sectors, from mining to oil and gasextraction and processing through to space exploration. We are also finding direct links with seemingly dissimilar subjects such as autonomous cars, which rely on advanced sensing and mapping technologies."