Robotic dog gets in hazardous sections of former reactor in Scotland
Robotic dog enters toxic areas of the decommissioned Scottish nuclear reactor. Humans will be directed to safe areas of a decommissioned nuclear plant by a robot dog.
At the site in Dounreay, Caithness, which is being decommissioned as part of a £3.2 billion project, “Spot” is being tested. Spot was put to the test on a gridded fire escape in order to get ready for the facility.
When humans cannot enter contaminated areas, the robot performs surveying work. The makers of Spot, the robotics company Createc, stated: It’s part of a site-wide programme to understand how the robot can become a valuable business-as-usual tool.
Robots have previously been used to access hazardous regions and scientists are looking at method to utilise them more effectively in cleaning up and dismantling the most highly radioactive areas of the site.
A group of institutions known as Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear has been collaborating with operator Doureay Site Restoration Limited(DSRL).
Lidar detection system and radioactivity contamination
They investigated the possibility of utilising robots in the Fuel Cycle Area(FCA), which is one of the most contaminated areas of the site, under the direction of Manchester University. They were typically the most inaccessible.
A robot surveyed a radioactive ventilation duct beneath a closed laboratory at Doureay in 2022. The Lyra robot examined the conduit using radiation probes and cameras, among other things.
Additionally, it used Lidar, a laser-based radar like detection system, and a manipulator arm to take swabs. One of the most difficult nuclear shutdown programmes in Europe is the decommissioning of Doureay.
DSRL, a division of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, is performing the task. The Doureay Fast Reactor(DFR), a remarkable dome-shaped structure developed in the 1950s during a global uranium crisis for the production of power, is among the structures that will be removed.
Natural uranium elements blanked the reactor’s core, and when those elements were exposed to radiation, they would breed to become plutonium, a new fuel. Most of the core fuel was removed following the reactor’s 1977 shutdown.
By around 2026, the sphere should be gone. In addition to suggestions to remove it and replace it with a hotel and a nightclub, there were plans to save it. In order to preserve the structure, Historic Scotland has proposed listing it. But it was decided to demolish the building because of the low radioactivity contamination.
Robotic dog gets in toxic section of a former reactor, Scotland. Humans will be directed to safe areas of a decommissioned nuclear plant by a robot dog.
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