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NuclearPlantJournal.com Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2016
Robotics &
USNRC..
1.
Do you have any collaboration with
the US Department of Energy and any
other organization?
West:
DOE has a tremendous
interest in robotic technology for a
number of their applications. I don’t
want to speak for them, but they’re very
interested in partnering with the NRC to
see what we could do together, because
one of the things researchers like to do
is work together because we get to share
the ideas from different agencies and
different people. Diverse people share
ideas, but it also is a way to leverage
the resources and the cost to do things
because if the NRC and the DOE work
together on some robotic agreement, we
both stand to get more out of it than if we
would individually.
Nicholson:
Our co-chairs at the
International Workshop at NIST were
AndrewSzilagyi, who isDivisionDirector
at DOE’s Office of Environmental
Management (EM), and Adam Jacoff,
Director of NIST’s Robot Test Facility.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety
Commission was extremely helpful,
as was the United Kingdom’s Atomic
Energy Authority, the Japan Atomic
Energy Agency, International Research
Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning
(IRID) and TEPCO We got incredible
information from these people, and that’s
how we were able to do that workshop.
Presenters
from
U.S.,
Germany
and Canadian companies were very
informative.
2.
What are the basic characteristics of
robotics, which NRC is considering?
Nicholson:
There’s a couple things
you want to think about when you talk
about robotics. The robot can either be
mobile or it can be stationary, and it has to
be able to function within its environment.
The environment may be very chaotic,
like at Fukushima Daiichi, where
you had rubble and debris, and high-
levels of radiation within the damaged
buildings. The robot may be just used
for routine maintenance and surveillance,
so you know in detail the geometry and
conditions where it will function. It
may need to access very small spaces.
You may want a robot to access and
function in narrow opening. So you have
to understand its environment before you
make the selection of the robot. And then
the most important thing is the sensor
or tool that the robot is delivering for
specific operation. So, should there be
cameras, at what orientation and height?
Is there a gamma detector? What is it that
you want that robot and sensor/tool to do?
The
Japanese
government
coordinated the presentations and panel
discussion for one special session at the
International Workshop. They brought
together the Japanese Atomic Energy
Agency, TEPCO and IRID. They did a
very nice job coordinating and integrating
that part of the program to inform us about
the lessons learned at Fukushima Daiichi.
The Japanese Embassy in Washington,
D.C., did a wonderful job of coordinating
this effort to talk about both Fukushima
Daiichi and their testing and need for
robotics at nuclear facilities.
3.
Define the term, “operator” as used
in robotics?
Nicholson:
It could take on a variety
of forms. It could be the person who
literally sits there at a machine interface,
so that they can view the activity remotely
using a camera on the robot as it goes
through that door, goes around the corner,
go up stairs, etc.. So they could operate
it remotely, or they could also be people
who developed the software that operates
the robot. There’s a variety of operators,
depending upon the robot, its function
and what you’re trying to achieve.
Nicholson:
And they have certification
programs for robots such as with drones.
And this is a responsibility for the national
regulator to come up with certification
standards, to demonstrate that an operator is
trained and can do the functions he’s trained
to do. It’s just like a reactor operator,
where you train them to operate the reactor.
Some of these are used for very sensitive
applications, like in law enforcement, with
the bomb removal and emergency response
activities. So you don’t want anybody doing
it. And this sets up the need to develop
standards and also the test protocols that are
used for an operator to demonstrate their
proficiency. And NIST does all that right
there in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
4.
Explain a robotic application
for dose management in hazardous
environment entry.
Nicholson:
Exelon Generation and
Duke Power are involved in this and
they made a presentation on the “Use
of Robotics for Dose Reduction and
Efficiency Gains at U.S. Commercial
Nuclear Facilities” at the International
Workshop at NIST. The licensee has
the opportunity, if they want to bring in
special tools or information to allow a
function to be achieved. So, they gave us
that demonstration. Now, in some places
it’s more routine than others. And we
heard about integrating the robot within
the facility performance, particularly
based upon Canadian experience. The
Canadians and other people are using
robotics more than in the U.S. And so,
you cannot just send a robot in and expect
it to do something without understanding
its environment. Is it within the reactor
building? Is it an auxiliary building?
How do you access the structure, system
or component of interest? What work is to
be done? The robot has to have a function
that’s compatible with its environment.
So you don’t want to do any harm using
the robot. Do no harm is the first rule.
So the thing goes in. Have you tested the
robot and its sensor(s)/tool(s)? Have you
tested the operator to make sure it’s going
to work? And have you thought about
