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U.S. Department of Energy
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Automation and Use of Robotics for Decommissioning Tasks - 18322

Conference ·
OSTI ID:22975462
;  [1]
  1. Electric Power Research Institute, 3420 Hillview Ave., Palo Alto, California (United States)
Decommissioning across the globe is being executed largely by manual labor. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has concluded that the nuclear industry has not fully exploited or implemented current technological capabilities, and relies on sometimes outdated technology to perform decommissioning tasks [1]. To address this issue, EPRI recently published the report Evaluation of System Automation and Robotics for Decommissioning Applications (EPRI 3002010599) [2]. To facilitate wide usage of the guidance by technology developers, the report is publicly available at no cost. The use of more efficient and effective decommissioning technologies and processes could reduce the decommissioning project schedule and therefore reduce the period-dependent costs incurred throughout the decommissioning project. Such systems may also offer a substantial benefit with respect to worker safety and radiation exposure reduction. However, tasks for which use of such systems is beneficial must be carefully considered, being robust and generally trouble free to operate in the demanding environment of commercial power plant decommissioning. A review of the major tasks involved in the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is presented, with a critical assessment of the benefits for the use of robotics and/or automation. Recommendations for areas of future research and development are identified. The results of this project will be beneficial to global organizations working on development of engineered systems for decommissioning applications by providing a focus on priority tasks. (authors)
Research Organization:
WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
OSTI ID:
22975462
Report Number(s):
INIS-US--20-WM-18322
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English