Many nuclear power plants are reaching their expected service life and will soon be scheduled for decommissioning. Some nuclear facilities have experienced damage or an accident serious enough to require shutting down and decommissioning the plant. Decommissioning is a long-term and expensive process, during which the facility must be monitored to ensure that it remains safe and to determine when and how to remove the radioactive materials from the site. Robots can help facilitate these tasks, while reducing costs and exposure risks.

In this whitepaper we examine:

  • The process of decommissioning
  • The associated safety and technical challenges
  • And the opportunities for quadruped robot in nuclear decommissioning