A major milestone in the UK’s nuclear clean-up has been reached, with help from a Cumbrian company.
A prototype snake robot – which allows for remote inspection – has been successfully deployed at Dounreay in Scotland.
It was developed in response to the Game Changers Post Operational Clean Out Challenge, led by Penrith firm FIS360 and the National Nuclear Laboratory.
The snake represents a notable advancement in remote inspection capabilities within the nuclear industry and is the culmination of over 15 years of research and development at the University of Nottingham.
The disposable modular snake manipulator with inflatable stiffening elements was able to inspect areas of a restricted-access cell unseen for over 40 years.
The active demonstration targeted an area 1m off the ground, around 6m into the cell. The prototype was also required to navigate through a range of obstacles to collect visual inspection data that could help inform and enhance decommissioning plans.
Initial development of this versatile and cost-effective solution was funded by Robotics and Artificial Intelligence in Nuclear before being recognised by the team at Dounreay as suitable for their inspection needs.
Nuclear Restoration Services Dounreay sponsored feasibility and proof of concept projects through the Game Changers innovation programme to further develop the solution.
Following development, with support and project management from the Game Changers team at FIS360, the 7m disposable snake underwent checks at the University of Nottingham and Dounreay prior to active deployment.
Lighting rings positioned on the head and rear of the snake and at the rear illuminated the inflatable section and inspection area being photographed or filmed via a borescope installed internally along the length of the snake, while dosimeters placed externally down its length measured radiation rates.
Mark Crichton, project engineer at Dounreay, said: “It’s been a pleasure to help develop this technology from the raw prototype to a fully functioning solution ready for deployment in an active environment. The facility operations team has been able to add invaluable insight to influence the design, adding rigour to ensure that we have an advanced prototype capable of deployment.”
The data and learning gathered from the demo will be used to further optimise the robot.
A separate project funded through Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Collaboration is already looking at adding an additional radiometric device to the snake, which will then be used to explore more areas of the cell at Dounreay.
Other areas and additional applications are also being identified for the snake across the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority estate. The NDA is also responsible for Sellafield in West Cumbria.
