Automation of the LANL ARIES lathe glovebox
- Pete C.
- Torsten
- David C.
- William W.
- Wendel G.
This paper presents the design of an automation system required for material handling within a glovebox. The Advanced Recovery and Integration Extraction System (ARIES) located at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) enables workers to dismantle nuclear weapons, separating the plutonium from other weapon components. The ARIES line consists of several gloveboxes that allow the 'pit' or trigger of a nuclear weapon to be dismantled and the plutonium stored in a safe form. The Lathe glovebox is the first step in the ARIES line and is used to cut the pit open to be dismantled. There are several methods for doing this, however there are advantages to using the lathe over other methods for this process. In general, this system will give the ARIES line the capability to handle a wider range of pit types. The system consists of a lathe, a 4 Degree of Freedom (DOF) robot, a glovebox that houses them, and a universal controller that resides outside the glovebox and controls all equipment. This paper will present the design and possible implementation of this lathe automation system. It will cover the system requirements, the mechanical hardware used within the glovebox, the control system and software, and operation procedures for various tasks.
- Research Organization:
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE
- OSTI ID:
- 975110
- Report Number(s):
- LA-UR-01-0313; LA-UR-01-313
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
A system for automated, dismantlement of plutonium weapons components
ARIES pit disassembly-safeguards issues for transparency