React enables Spot® the Dog to enter high-active environment in Dounreay

Introduction

React has successfully deployed the NV-Explore radiological survey equipment mounted to a Boston Dynamics ‘Spot® the Dog’ platform in a historic high-active cell in Dounreay. The combination of cutting-edge surveying and robotics technology has allowed decommissioning teams to see inside of a high-active cell that has been inaccessible since the 1990s.

The decommissioning team at Dounreay required additional data about the cell to clarify assumptions made during the development of the decommissioning plan and to obtain additional characterisation data to use in the wider facility. React provided leadership from a technical and project management perspective, defining, and implementing a sampling plan which satisfied the information gathering requirements, created a Safe System of Work and supported the deployment team on site. The equipment was deployed safely and successfully. The client has received a comprehensive package of survey information including a 3D cell model, precise radiological data, and a suite of high-resolution photographs of the cell.

Key benefits

• Proof of concept of deployment of robots in high-active environments.
• Accurate physical and radiological modelling of facilities, unseen in over 30 years.
• Better informed decommissioning programmes improve strategic decision making.

Client & Location

Nuclear Restoration Services.

Dounreay, Caithness, UK

Partners

• Createc
• Boston Dynamics

Key skills and competencies

• Characterisation Planning
• Methodology Development
• Project Implementation Engineering

Key technologies

• NVisage®
• Spot®

The use of this robotic and sensing system has meant that humans were kept away from the radiation hazard. It has allowed the team to capture digital data which can be analysed to extract insights that would not be possible from other traditional technologies. All three companies pushed the boundaries to deliver this complex project, whose outcome will inform the future plant decommissioning.

Will Newsom, Createc