A development in robotic technology could be the answer to cleaning up hundreds of nuclear devices collected over decades.
Sellafield in Cumbria, Europe’s largest nuclear plant, has built up a stack of 700 gloveboxes – sealed containers with built in gloves that allow operators to handle radioactive materials.
Some are up to 60 years old, vary in size and shape and still contain contaminated materials like pipework and valves.
A team of robotics experts has developed a dextrous mechanised arm that can be fitted inside an active nuclear glovebox to help tackle the challenging task of cleaning up and disposing of these devices.
Known as the Risk Reduction of Glovebox Operations (RrOBO) project, it was developed in partnership with AtkinsRéalis, Cavendish Nuclear and Taylor Kightley Engineering.
“Removing hands from gloveboxes is a key challenge for the nuclear industry and we’re proud to be helping to drive change and improve safety,” said Robert Marwood, from AtkinsRéalis.
Developers proved the robotic arm could successfully carry out a complex series of tasks safely, meaning the technology can now be deployed to legacy gloveboxes to accelerate decommissioning.
Sellafield’s labs contain some old gloveboxes needing to be disposed of safely [Sellafield ltd]
A spokesman for Sellafield, which opened in 1947 and has the largest stockpile of radioactive plutonium in the world, said some of its older labs contained gloveboxes dating back decades, taking up space and posing “a potential hazard to workers and the environment”
It started running a glovebox training facility this year to help meet demand for the skill.
The spokesman said: “We’ll need a pipeline of skilled glovebox operators for many years to come, but it’s difficult work requiring high levels of dexterity and consistent standards.”
They added the nuclear industry nationally needed thousands of new gloveboxes to support “current and future missions in the decommissioning and defence sectors.”
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