Design and Development of Underwater Radioactive Material Cleaning Robot Applied in Pressure Vessel

Abstract

This paper designed and developed an underwater robot for radioactive material cleaning and other operations, instead of manual methods. Since radioactive substances exist in a pressure vessel, the interior of which is filled with water, and the working environment of the robot is underwater. Its working method is as follows: the inner wall of the pressure volume is cleaned by the cleaning and grinding tools mounted on both sides of the fuselage, and the radioactive material dropped from the bottom of the pressure vessel is cleaned by the robotic arm mounted on the bottom of robot. At the same time, sensors such as cameras, thermometers, and sonars mounted on the robot can return video images and information data inside the pressure vessel. Under the nuclear environment, the underwater robot can improve the cleaning efficiency of the inner wall of the pressure vessel, and reduce the radioactive radiation received by the staff, and control the production of secondary and tertiary wastes. The test results show the effectiveness and practicability of the underwater robot, meanwhile the robot can also be used for cleaning up other underwater radioactive environments.