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Remote controlled underwater vehicles - ROVs - could be used to clear radioactive particles from the seabed near the Dounreay nuclear complex. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), which is cleaning up the site, said it hopes to test the technology's suitability for the task.
UKAEA also said it would step up monitoring of Sandside Beach, near the plant in Caithness, for particles.
Seventy-four rogue particles have been found on the beach.
Historic discharge
The metallic fragments of reprocessed reactor fuel are linked to a historic discharge from the plant, which is being decommissioned.
UKAEA said a notice placed in the Official Journal of the European Union seeks expressions of interest from companies capable of detecting and removing fragments of irradiated nuclear fuel.
It said in recent years, divers had spent approximately 1,500 hours mapping 500,000 sq metres of seabed and recovered 929 particles in the process.
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