Development of a pneumatic muscle actuator driven manipulator rig for nuclear waste retrieval operations

The processes of nuclear clean-up, dismantling and decontamination are highly hazardous, but in many instances, particularly where the facility is older there has been little provision for automation, and human intervention is necessary. The paper describes a prototype design of a teleoperational rig for retrieval of radioactive material (spent Magnox fuel) from underwater storage ponds. The system uses a combination of the traditional man-handled manipulation pole combined with new pneumatic muscle actuators. The paper considers the design requirement, the technology and the system performance in dry test operations.