Robotic Measurement of Holdup Deposit Volume in Gaseous Diffusion Piping to Quantify U-235 Content - 18375

Conference · Sun Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 2018

OSTI ID:22977682

Papincak, Lawrence; Jones, Heather; Hanczor, Matthew; Whittaker, Warren; Teza, James; Kohanbash, David; Maley, Siri; Arnett, Daniel; Tallaksen, Andrew; Duncan, Alexander; Cordova Lantadilla, Ignacio; O'Keefe, Ryan; Ford, Jordan; Whittaker, William ^[1]

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1. Carnegie Mellon University (United States)

During D and D of old gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facilities, radiometric assay of U-235 holdup in pipes is a costly, time consuming, and labor-intensive process. Subject to human interpretation using approximate modeling, radiometric assay introduces significant challenges. Taking advantage of routine demolition activities in which D and D cuts pipes open, robotic in-pipe assay is explored. The novel method introduced here generates models of the internal pipe and deposit surface geometries that are used to derive volumetric quantities. The pipe surface is sensed using a non-contact inductive proximity sensor and the deposit surface is sensed using an optical laser triangulation sensor. These sensors are mounted on a spinning disk and driven down the pipe to construct a helical point cloud of discrete measurements. Surfaces are fit to each of the two point clouds to create a watertight volume that represents the holdup. This provides the location and volume per foot of pipe that is used to compare against criticality incredible (CI) thresholds during evaluation. The robotic system collects data autonomously, deploying and returning to the same pipe opening from which it is launched. This provides redundant measurements of the pipe and deposit surfaces as well as odometry used in localization. (authors)

• Research Organization: WM Symposia, Inc., PO Box 27646, 85285-7646 Tempe, AZ (United States)
• OSTI ID: 22977682
• Report Number(s): INIS-US--20-WM-18375
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
AUTOMATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTAMINATION
CRITICALITY
DECOMMISSIONING
DEMOLITION
GASEOUS DIFFUSION
ISOTOPE SEPARATION PLANTS
LASERS
PIPES
RADIOMETRIC SURVEYS
REMOTE CONTROL
ROBOTS
SENSORS
URANIUM 235