Considerations in the development and implementation of a maintenance robot for nuclear power facilities

Conference · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1987 · Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States)

OSTI ID:5359564

Rohrabacher, A; Carlton, R; Gelhaus, F

The Nuclear Power Division of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) began its automated nuclear plant maintenance research (research project 2232) in 1982 with surveys of domestic and Japanese ongoing and potential uses of robotic systems in nuclear power facilities. After studying these potential research areas, EPRI initiated a three-pronged effort. All surveys concluded that a mobile system for general environmental, visual, and auto surveillance would be beneficial, and EPRI contracted for the development and evaluation of the Surveyor robot. Work also began to catalog existing systems and to quantify the methodology that a utility could use to optimally complete the plant-mission, robot-system selection process. The conceptualizing phase of the effort defined the necessary physical attributes for the machine to perform a variety of maintenance tasks. Characteristics such as mobility, strength, conditions of service, materials of construction, tool functional requirements, facility interfaces, and operator interface were defined to the extent practical. Substantial versatility is required for the variability of the targeted maintenance tasks and for the variability of facility layouts and designs found throughout the nuclear industry. A key contribution to this development effort comes from the project's Utility Advisors Group. The contract's host utility provides membership to lead this group, and that company will train in the use of the machine for 6 months prior to utilizing it in their power plant for 2 yr.

• OSTI ID: 5359564
• Report Number(s): CONF-870837-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Trans. Am. Nucl. Soc.; (United States) Journal Volume: 54
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210800 -- Nuclear Power Plants-- Economics
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
220900* -- Nuclear Reactor Technology-- Reactor Safety
COMPUTERS
DESIGN
EPRI
IMPLEMENTATION
MAINTENANCE
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
POWER PLANTS
REACTOR MAINTENANCE
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
ROBOTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
USES