Dismantle your nuclear facilities with laser cutting

Onet Technologies is working with the French Atomic Energy Authority (CEA) on the use of laser cutting technologies dedicated to remotely operated dismantling applications, in order to reduce the costs and lead times involved in dismantling nuclear facilities and reactors, and to promote safety, worker protection and environmental protection.

Laser cutting in the nuclear environment: 10 years of experience Onet Technologies

Our experience since 2011

• Proven expertise in design, R&D and operations
• 100 cumulative days of laser operation on site (MAR200 project)
• Over 6 years of R&D on laser cutting (for Fukushima)
• More than 500 laser shots carried out with CEA (Marcoule & Saclay)
• A dozen materials tested on a hundred or so cutting configurations

Our skills

• Provider of laser cutting solutions from upstream studies to operational implementation
• Feasibility study, safety analysis and risk management
• Design and detailed study, supply of laser systems, testing
• Installation, commissioning, operation and/or site completion
• Identify and respond to R&D needs

Our technologies

• Unique technologies benefiting from CEA developments and years of R&D
• Patented laser head design
• Integrated laser cutting system (mobile and robust) designed for deployment on nuclear sites
• Associated safety systems to manage specific laser-induced risks (dust, residual energy, gas, etc.)

Our experts in laser cutting technology

Discover the portrait of Joé Vasquez Del Corro, technical architect for remote operation and laser at Onet Technologies. Whether in France or abroad, he is passionate about the daily deployment of our laser dismantling technology, from Marcoule to Fukushima Daiichi.

Onet Technologies' Laser Technocenter

In 2023, we inaugurated the Laser Technocenter, located near the CEA in Marcoule, where an area is dedicated to laser testing and development activities. The Technocentre serves as a laser test center, a showroom for our customers, and an R&D center to perfect laser technology.

Focus on L.DCom laser technology: a complete and efficient solution for nuclear decommissioning

Nuclear decommissioning requires reliable and efficient remotely-operated tools to meet the many challenges of removing radioactive materials from areas inaccessible to man. L.DCom remote-controlled laser cutting technology has been specially developed for these extreme conditions, and is suitable for cutting very thick materials in hazardous environments. The technology can be used both in the air and underwater. The system is designed to be easily installed in existing installations and to interface with remote operation equipment. Modularity and flexibility are essential to enhance its use in a variety of configurations and environmental constraints.

These patented technologies were developed by CEA, then industrialized and now operated by Onet Technologies. Laser cutting offers excellent cutting performance in remote operation, while providing high positional tolerance when cutting heterogeneous layers of material.

• Efficiency
• No consumables or maintenance (in controlled areas)
• Cost reduction
• Faster work rates
• Enhanced safety
• Robustness
• Reliability

Onet Technologies' participation in the European LD SAFE project

The LD SAFE project is a project funded by the Euratom research and training program. This four-year European H2020 research and innovation project, running from July 2020 to June 2024, focuses on the use of laser cutting technology for nuclear reactor dismantling.

Onet Technologies is proud to be the main contributor and leader of the LD-SAFE project, which will help increase the maturity of laser cutting technology for nuclear decommissioning.

The aim of the LD-SAFE project is to demonstrate that air and underwater laser cutting technologies are effectively operational for dismantling the most complex components of nuclear power reactors (vessels and internals). To achieve this, the laser cutting technique must demonstrate:

• That it is as safe as the best cutting techniques currently in use, and even safer for workers and the environment;
• It does not add any additional constraints compared with other dismantling tools currently in use;
• That it is more profitable;
• It is simpler to implement on site, and better suited to the complex dismantling of components such as reactor internals.

At the end of the project, the efficiency and safety of the laser cutting technology should be largely confirmed.