An important collaboration has been formed between the University of Leeds, Sellafield Ltd and MMI Engineering, as part of a £12 million pound R & D call into developing the civil nuclear supply chain by the UK’s Technology Strategy Board. Fundamentally, the project seeks to reduce the costs associated with sludge separation and increase process efficiency (thus reducing operational timelines) by developing two integrated characterization tools: 1) A predictive modelling framework; and, 2) An innovative and flexible in situ measurement technology.