Best practice guidelines and lessons learned from robotic system deployment in nuclear decommissioning

The UK National Nuclear Laboratory (UK NNL) has a proven track record of delivering the deployment of robotic solutions for nuclear decommissioning at the Sellafield site with a description of the typical challenges faced and strategies being adopted outlined in [1]. This paper provides a high level overview of robotic deployment at the Sellafield site and provides an appreciation of the generic challenges and constraints commonly encountered during nuclear decommissioning. The findings from a review of a number of mid Technology Readiness Level (TRL) robotic projects undertaken by UK NNL are examined and lessons learned are identified to provide a common reference framework allowing success for future robotic projects to be optimised. TRLs represent a scale of technology readiness from 1 (blue sky research) to 9 (industrial application) established by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Mid-TRL stages are 4-6, including the development and testing at small to large scale, prior to ‘inactive commissioning’ (i.e., Stage 7) [2]. The aim is to identify common challenges to the deployment of robotic technologies for nuclear decommissioning in the UK. This approach will help to build an improved methodology and identify best practice guidelines for stakeholders; whilst assisting innovation in this area. This will help to accelerate decommissioning programmes and strategic objectives. This will also help to build stakeholder confidence in robotic solutions and help to convince end users to adopt these technologies to reduce overall project costs.