How do you decommission a nuclear installation? Call in the robots

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe an innovative project to safely cleanup and decommission a major nuclear facility.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is to design and apply robotic technology to custom designed robots that can address specific needs in safely removing major structures and cleaning and decontaminating areas of a nuclear processing plant.FindingsThe paper finds that frequently, robots are the answer but commercially available units may not be the suitable solution so designing custom robotics may be the best answer.Practical implicationsFirms considering approaches to handling hazardous cleanup conditions can look to the experience in Scotland for designing robotic answers for special needs handling applications.Originality/valueThis may be the first major hazardous site to design and employ custom robotic techniques to handle most cleanup tasks.