Dounreay: New snake-like robot to access off-limits areas
A new robot has been trialled at Dounreay in order to reach “severely restricted” areas at the former experimental nuclear plant.
During decommissioning of the reactor, engineers have had to come up with innovative solutions to access parts of the plant that are off limits to humans.
In 2022, the award-winning “Lyra” robot was used in Dounreay’s redundant fuel cycle area laboratories, courtesy of a collaboration with the University of Manchester.
Since then, the team has been working with the University of Nottingham to come up with a simple, inexpensive and potentially disposable robot that could access severely restricted areas that could not be reached by workers.
Fitted with a camera, lights and finger dosemeters to detect radiation, the snake-like inspection robot was trialled in one of Dounreay’s redundant laboratories, to inspect the area under a turntable that dominates the cell.
NRS Dounreay project manager Jason Simpson, who assisted with the development and trials, said: “Surveys of the area under the turntable will be very useful to us in planning the decommissioning strategy of the laboratory.”
Engineer Mark Crichton added: “It’s been a pleasure to work with the team from Nottingham and help develop this from the initial prototype to the point where it was ready for deployment within an active environment.”
The technology was developed in response to a challenge by Game Changers, an innovation programme which finds solutions for complex nuclear industry challenges.
ICE9 Robotics, who specialise in customising robots for use in hazardous areas, also supported the team from Nottingham University during the deployments at Dounreay.
