Human factors and safety issues associated with actinide retrieval from spent light water reactor fuel assemblies

Conference · Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:7117586

Spelt, P F

A major problem in environmental restoration and waste management is the disposition of used fuel assemblies from the many light water reactors in the United States, which present a radiation hazard to those whose job is to dispose of them, with a similar threat to the general environment associated with long-term storage in fuel repositories around the country. Actinides resident in the fuel pins as a result of their use in reactor cores constitute a significant component of this hazard. Recently, the Department of Energy has initiated an Actinide Recycle Program to study the feasibility of using pyrochemical (molten salt) processes to recover actinides from the spent fuel assemblies of commercial reactors. This project concerns the application of robotics technology to the operation and maintenance functions of a plant whose objective is to recover actinides from spent fuel assemblies, and to dispose of the resulting hardware and chemical components from this process. Such a procedure involves a number of safety and human factors issues. The purpose of the project is to explore the use of robotics and artificial intelligence to facilitate accomplishment of the program goals while maintaining the safety of the humans doing the work and the integrity of the environment. This project will result in a graphic simulation on a Silicon Graphics workstation as a proof of principle demonstration of the feasibility of using robotics along with an intelligent operator interface. A major component of the operator-system interface is a hybrid artificial intelligence system developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which combines artificial neural networks and an expert system into a hybrid, self-improving computer-based system interface. 10 refs.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC05-84OR21400
• OSTI ID: 7117586
• Report Number(s): CONF-921048-3; ON: DE92017815
• Resource Relation: Conference: Human Factors Society (HFS) annual meeting, Atlanta, GA (United States), 12-16 Oct 1992
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE WASTES FROM NUCLEAR FACILITIES
11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS
ACTINIDES
MATERIALS RECOVERY
FUEL ASSEMBLIES
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
FUEL PINS
DECLADDING
HUMAN FACTORS
SPENT FUELS
PYROCHEMICAL REPROCESSING
AMERICIUM
COMPUTERIZED CONTROL SYSTEMS
CURIUM
EXPERT SYSTEMS
MAN-MACHINE SYSTEMS
NEPTUNIUM
PLUTONIUM
PROCESS CONTROL
RADIATION PROTECTION
SAFETY
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
CONTROL
CONTROL SYSTEMS
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FUEL ELEMENTS
FUELS
HEAD END PROCESSES
MANAGEMENT
MATERIALS
METALS
NUCLEAR FUELS
ON-LINE CONTROL SYSTEMS
ON-LINE SYSTEMS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR MATERIALS
REACTORS
REPROCESSING
SEPARATION PROCESSES
TRANSPLUTONIUM ELEMENTS
TRANSURANIUM ELEMENTS
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
052001* - Nuclear Fuels- Waste Processing
054000 - Nuclear Fuels- Health & Safety