The Sellafield nuclear power plant has just finished a successful first trial of a cute little four-legged robot that will help patrol the facilities’ radiation levels. This innovative technology promises to enhance safety and efficiency in sensitive environments where radioactive materials exist. Since the robot is able to maneuver through hazardous areas, it collects important information while limiting human contact with possible hazards.
For this field trial, the robot used a special attachment that replicates the swabbing motions made by human workers. Sellafield’s health physics team completes hundreds of swipes of surfaces every day to make sure safety standards are adhered to. The robot uses a long, wide, movable arm at the front, fitted with a signature yellow swabbing tool. Its purpose is to quickly gather samples from surfaces where release of radioactive material may have occurred.
Designed for dexterity, the quadruped robot is able to reach areas that present extreme hazards to human operators. Its design enables it to roll over rugged terrain inside the plant, helping improve the speed and accuracy of monitoring in high-radiation environments. The robot offers immediate feedback, allowing for accurate operation to be fine-tuned while in use.
Deon Bulman, the remotely operated vehicle equipment lead at Sellafield, emphasized the importance of this technology in the nuclear sector.
“Together, these capabilities support faster, safer, and more cost-effective decommissioning operations while pushing forward the adoption of advanced robotics in the nuclear sector.” – Deon Bulman
Dr. Kirsty Hewitson, director of RAICo, said that the consequences of this type of technology go far beyond Sellafield. She remarked that this innovative robotic solution “could have an impact on both nuclear decommissioning and fusion engineering sites.”
The trial at Sellafield has recently begun. It extends a historic experiment that researchers carried out at the Joint European Torus facility in Culham, Oxfordshire — the last known successful testbed for operational fusion technology. This important parallel development underscores a boon for growing the presence of robotics in the nuclear industry.