In an extraordinary new trial, Sellafield has begun using a four-legged robot named Spot. This robot is outfitted with a new swabbing tool to make radiation monitoring more efficient and effective. As the first-of-its-kind trial, this experiment intends to evaluate the robot’s effectiveness when using the robot on areas with radioactive materials on the surface. The swabbing tool, called RAICo, replicates the movements and methods of human operators. This innovative design allows the monitoring of dangerous spaces in an efficient and safe manner.
The trial comes on the heels of a successful test last year at the Joint European Torus facility in Culham, Oxfordshire. It seeks to boost the proliferation of advanced robotics throughout the nuclear industry. Sellafield’s health physics team are responsible for hundreds of swabs a day from different surfaces. They underscore the urgency for accurate and consistent monitoring instruments to serve as accountability measures.
The four-legged robot, known as Spot, is a head-turner with its yellow and black hues. It has a huge extendable arm out front, which is where the RAICo swabbing tool sits. Deon Bulman, the man leading humans’ trial in this robot’s capabilities, was particularly impressed by the robot’s agility and responsiveness. These capabilities enable the robot to function in hazardous environments that are inaccessible to human workers.
“Those capabilities support faster, safer, and more cost-effective decommissioning operations,” – Deon Bulman
Integrating this robotic technology into nuclear facilities would be a major step forward. The RAICo swabbing tool was developed specifically for safe surface swabbing. It just works better in situations where radiation levels are a threat to human life. Bulman, the robot’s creator, describes how the robot gives patients ‘haptic feedback’ while they’re swabbed. This added control and precision boost productivity while keeping operations safe and accurate.
Dr. Kirsty Hewitson, director of RAICo, was instrumental in the leadership of the trial at Sellafield. The development of this project represents an industrywide commitment to envisioning how robotics can change the way decommissioning activities are done in the nuclear industry.
And as Sellafield looks to further understand Spot’s capabilities, the opportunity for robots to take over radiation level monitors increases exponentially. This innovative technology has the potential to make dangerous workplace conditions safer. It has the potential to improve efficiency while decommissioning through clean-up efforts at nuclear sites.