Robotic cleaning of radwaste tank nozzles

Conference · Tue Dec 31 23:00:00 EST 1991 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States)

OSTI ID:6983582

Boughman, G ^[1]; Jones, S L ^[2]

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1. Pennsylvania Power and Light Co., Allentown (United States)
2. Remote Technology Corp., Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

The Susquehanna radwaste processing system includes two reactor water cleanup phase separator tanks and one waste sludge phase separator tank. A system of educator nozzles and associated piping is used to provide mixing in the tanks. The mixture pumped through the nozzles is a dense resin-and-water slurry, and the nozzles tend to plug up during processing. The previous method for clearing the nozzles had been for a worker to enter the tanks and manually insert a hydrolaser into each nozzle, one at a time. The significant radiation exposure and concern for worker safety in the tank led the utility to investigate alternate means for completing this task. The typical tank configuration is shown in a figure. The initial approach investigated was to insert a manipulator arm in the tank. This arm would be installed by workers and then teleoperated from a remote control station. This approach was abandoned because of several considerations including educator location and orientation, excessive installation time, and cost. The next approach was to use a mobile platform that would operate on the tank floor. This approach was selected as being the most feasible solution. After a competitive selection process, REMOTEC was selected to provide the mobile platform. Their proposal was based on the commercial ANDROS Mark 5 platform.

• OSTI ID: 6983582
• Report Number(s): CONF-921102--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States), Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society; (United States) Vol. 66; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

052000 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Waste Management
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
990200 -- Mathematics & Computers
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CAMERAS
CLEANING
CONTAINERS
ENRICHED URANIUM REACTORS
EQUIPMENT
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
LABORATORY EQUIPMENT
MANAGEMENT
MANIPULATORS
MATERIALS
MATERIALS HANDLING EQUIPMENT
NOZZLES
POWER REACTORS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTES
REACTORS
REMOTE HANDLING EQUIPMENT
REMOVAL
ROBOTS
SUSQUEHANNA-1 REACTOR
SUSQUEHANNA-2 REACTOR
TANKS
THERMAL REACTORS
VEHICLES
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS