Four-legged robot trialled to monitor radiation

Sellafield nuclear power plant is testing whether a robot can be used to monitor radiation levels.

The Cumbrian plant has completed its first trial of the new four-legged robot used to swab surfaces in areas containing radioactive material.

It is hoped the technology will monitor the site without the need for people to enter hazardous environments.

The company's remotely operated vehicle equipment lead, Deon Bulman, said the robot's agility allowed it to enter areas dangerous for humans and the feedback it provided allowed it to be controlled precisely.

"Together, these capabilities support faster, safer, and more cost-effective decommissioning operations while pushing forward the adoption of advanced robotics in the nuclear sector," he said.

Sellafield's health physics team carries out hundreds of swabs on surfaces daily, which provides data to determine decommissioning strategies and maintain safety standards.

The trial used Boston Dynamics' Spot robot designed by the Robotics & AI Collaboration (RAICo).

It also developed software that gives commands to Spot to mimic a hand's swabbing motion.

During the trial, the robot was sent into a restricted area to inspect a simulated radiological spill and take a swab of a mock-contaminated surface.

RAICo director, Dr Kirsty Hewitson, said the trial followed a similar successful test at the Joint European Torus facility - which experimented with fusion technology - in Culham in Oxfordshire last year.

She said the tests showed robotics "could have an impact on both nuclear decommissioning and fusion engineering sites".

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