Sellafield nuclear power plant has initiated a groundbreaking trial involving a four-legged robot named Spot, developed by Boston Dynamics, to enhance radiation monitoring efforts. The key to this cutting-edge approach is improving the overall efficiency of decommissioning operations. It reimposes safety to the facility’s dangerous and hostile landscape.
Spot is outfitted with a long, extendable arm that extends to fit a novel swabbing tool known as RAICo. This new tool is what gives the robot the ability to carry out routine surface swabbing tasks that trained human workers do. The health physics team at Sellafield perform hundreds of surface swabs per day. Implementing this kind of robotic technology is a big step forward in their operational standard practices.
Deon Bulman, head of remotely operated vehicle equipment at Sellafield, underlined the benefits afforded by utilising the robot in dangerously contaminated areas. The robot’s speed, nimbleness, and reactiveness allow it to tackle tasks in potentially dangerous settings where humans cannot safely work. In addition, Spot’s haptic feedback system enables more precise control and precision during swabbing tasks, guaranteeing quality readings of radiation levels.
The RAICo swabbing tool as used during its first test at Sellafield. This trial comes after a successful large-scale run with the approach at Europe’s Joint European Torus facility in Culham, Oxfordshire. The nuclear sector has certainly demonstrated its commitment to advanced robotics. That advancement across safety is matched by increases in operational efficiency.
“Those capabilities support faster, safer, and more cost-effective decommissioning operations.” – Deon Bulman
The deployment of Spot into radiation monitoring operations continues to support Sellafield’s strategic objective of making the Sellafield decommissioning process more efficient and effective. By incorporating state-of-the-art technology, the facility’s manager/operator is focused on increasing efficiency while continuing to ensure its staff works in a safe and healthy environment.
Dr. Kirsty Hewitson, the director of RAICo, stated that this trial is critical. Most importantly, it helps advance robotic applications in the nuclear industry. Robotics addition into this important space increases efficiency to a staggering degree. Beyond that, it demonstrates the groundbreaking potential to address historic gaps with smart technology in the world of nuclear decommissioning.