SeeSnake: Radiological Characterisation of Complex Nuclear Spaces - 16162
- OC Robotics, Unit 5, Abbey Wood Business Park, Emma-Chris Way, Filton, Bristol, BS34 7JU (United Kingdom)
- Createc, Cumbria (United Kingdom)
Decommissioning of retired nuclear plant can be a difficult task for many reasons. A number of locations around the world have active cells awaiting decommissioning without a clear understanding of the internal structure and possible locations of radiological sources. Furthermore, many nuclear plant drawings and models do not reflect the 'as built' dimensions, and precise data required for safe and cost effective decommissioning is not readily available. This presents decommissioning teams with significant challenges when attempting to plan and execute their decommissioning programs. Due to the complex nature and constrained environments typical of legacy nuclear plant, it is often not possible to deploy traditional remote handling/inspection technologies. Even where possible, identifying the correct sensor, or suite of sensors, to characterize the environment is problematic. To address this common issue Create Technologies Ltd (Createc) and OC Robotics collaborated on SeeSnake, a project aimed at leveraging radiometric source mapping with 3D scanning and confined space remote handling. Createc's imaging and sensing systems have strong capabilities in the nuclear industry, led by their N-Visage products, as do OC Robotics' snake-arm robots as a remote deployment platform for confined and hazardous spaces. The snake-arm robot enables access through small penetrations with the ability to navigate internal structures and other obstacles without support from the environment; whilst multiple re-positioning of the N-Visage sensor, integrated with the snake-arm system, enables a thorough 3D map to be created. The SeeSnake project demonstrates the integrated systems ability to capture valuable radiation, visual and positional data enabling the characterization of a complex active environment. To mature the concept into an integrated, functional technology the SeeSnake partners overcame a number of challenges before demonstrating to key stakeholders in the UK nuclear industry. This paper describes these challenges and the solutions implemented, along with the results from early system trials and stakeholder demonstrations. It also addresses the next steps for the SeeSnake technology and identifies a number of applications which will may benefit from its exploitation. (authors)
- Research Organization:
- WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 22838044
- Report Number(s):
- INIS-US-19-WM-16162; TRN: US19V1237083399
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: WM2016: 42. Annual Waste Management Symposium, Phoenix, AZ (United States), 6-10 Mar 2016; Other Information: Country of input: France; available online at: http://archive.wmsym.org/2016/index.html
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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