Sellafield nuclear power plant has passed the first successful trial of a new four-legged robot. This robot’s purpose is to measure levels of radiation, and do it safely. This new technology aims to enhance safety and efficiency in areas containing radioactive material, reflecting ongoing efforts to improve decommissioning operations within the nuclear sector.
The robot has a long mechanical arm on the front of the robot that extends out and down, where there is a yellow swabbing tool. This new attachment replicates the swabbing motion of human workers, so it can swab surfaces in otherwise dangerous environments. At Sellafield, the health physics team carries out hundreds of swabs daily to collect crucial data that informs decommissioning strategies and maintains safety standards.
Deon Bulman is the operations lead and remotely operated vehicle equipment specialist at Sellafield. He pointed out the robot’s extraordinary maneuverability, able to access locations dangerous for humans to enter. He noted, “Together, these capabilities support faster, safer, and more cost-effective decommissioning operations while pushing forward the adoption of advanced robotics in the nuclear sector.”
The trial comes after a successful, if closely related, test last year at the Joint European Torus facility in Culham, Oxfordshire. Dr. Kirsty Hewitson, the director of RAICo, commented on the implications of these advancements, suggesting that robotic technologies like this one “could have an impact on both nuclear decommissioning and fusion engineering sites.”
This deployment of a four-legged robotic quadri-ped marks a consequent step forward to employing robotics in the nuclear industry. Sellafield has applied technology developed for primary industry and extreme environments to further enhance operational safety. This strategy makes the decommissioning process simpler as well.