Remote excavation using the telerobotic small emplacement excavator
- Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
For nearly five decades, the US Department of Energy (DOE) and its predecessor agencies have engaged in broad-based research and development activities as well as in the production of nuclear weapons components. As a by-product of these activities, large quantities of waste materials have been generated. With the current emphasis on environmental restoration, DOE now plans either to retrieve much of the legacy of buried waste or to stabilize the waste in place via in situ vitrification or by other means. Because of the potential hazards of these wastes and uncertainty about waste contents and container integrity, it is highly desirable to excavate these wastes using remotely operated equipment. This paper describes the development of a teleoperated military tractor called the small emplacement excavator (SEE). Development of the SEE is being funded jointly by the DOE and the US Army. The DOE sponsor is the Office of Technology Development (OTD) Robotics Program. The US Army sponsor is the program manager for ammunition logistics, Picatinny Arsenal. The primary interest for DOE is remote excavation of buried waste, while the primary emphasis for the US Army is the remote retrieval of unexploded ordinance. Technical requirements for these two taks are very similar and, therefore, justify a joint development project. Preliminary descriptions of the project goals and early results have been described elsewhere.
- OSTI ID:
- 6678879
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-921102-; CODEN: TANSAO
- Journal Information:
- Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Vol. 66; Conference: Joint American Nuclear Society (ANS)/European Nuclear Society (ENS) international meeting on fifty years of controlled nuclear chain reaction: past, present, and future, Chicago, IL (United States), 15-20 Nov 1992; ISSN 0003-018X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Remote excavation using the telerobotic small emplacement excavator
Related Subjects
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
WASTE RETRIEVAL
EXCAVATION
REMEDIAL ACTION
REMOTE CONTROL
REMOTE HANDLING EQUIPMENT
ROBOTS
US DOE
VEHICLES
CONTROL
EQUIPMENT
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
US ORGANIZATIONS
WASTES
052000* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Management