Modeling Teleoperated Tank Waste Removal at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ABSTRACTOne of the pervasive problems facing the Department of Energy's (DOE) national research facilities are the large volumes of stored radioactive waste. Historically, much of this waste, generated during the cold war, is contained in under ground storage tanks. Unfortunately, many of these tanks are showing signs of aging and fatigue. Subsequently, there is an aggressive DOE program directed at identifying existing technologies that can safely remove material from these facilities for storage in more stable environments. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), teaming with industry and other laboratories, has designed, developed, and integrated a remotely operated waste removal system. This manuscript describes this system as well as the modeling and simulation effort performed prior to system integration and operation. The modeling effort includes a novel dynamic model of multiple robots coupled by an elastic hose. The result of a simulation study, presented in the latter part of the manuscript, provi...