Tomorrow's mobile robots in today's nuclear power plants

A primary motivation for utilizing robots in nuclear power plants is maintenance economics and the nuclear industry's concern with reducing personnel radiation exposure to as low as reasonably achievable as recommended by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Recent studies by Battelle Columbus Laboratories, the Electric Power Research Institute, the NRC and others indicate that robots for surveillance and inspection can be retrofitted into existing boiling water reactor and pressurized water reactor plants, but economics must be evaluated on a case-by-case, site-specific basis, because nuclear power plants in the US are usually different in design. Application areas or robot functions being considered are broad and range from primary containment inspection, reactor maintenance, routine health physics tasks, and various operation and maintenance procedures, to facility decontamination and decommissioning, and post-accident recovery such as at Three Mile Island Unit 2. This paper will discuss the general use of robotic devices in nuclear power plants, the pioneering use of robotics technology at Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, and the field testing of mobile robots at Public Service Electric and Gas Company's Salem and Hope Creek nuclear plants.