A combined video and gamma ray imaging system for robots in nuclear environments (original) (raw)

Radiation Imaging System using a Compact Gamma-ray Imager mounted on a Remotely Operated Machine

IFAC-PapersOnLine, 2017

The development of remote and quick radiation imaging methods for high dose-rate environments is important to accelerate decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). We have developed a remote radiation imaging system consisting of a Compton camera and a multicoptertype drone to remotely measure the distribution of radioactive contaminations inside FDNPS. In outdoor performance evaluation tests in the coastal areas of Fukushima, Japan, the drone system succeeded in observing several hotspots from the sky. In addition, we are developing technology for simultaneous localization and mapping of remotely operated machines such as drones to complete the remote radiation imaging system, which can fly autonomously.

Robotic Handling of Gamma-Ray Sources in Site Radiography of Steel Storage Tanks

Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction, 1996

There are many possible causes of the radiation exposure hazard in on-site gamma radiography. Through poor safety procedures, for example, operators are in danger of rapidly acquiring radiation dosage by proximity to the radioactive source. In such circumstances a dosage, which might otherwise be associated with one year of intensive radiography work, can be acquired in a few minutes. The way forward is to find the means for reducing the risk of exposure to as little as practically possible. By contrast, the concept of a 'safe dosage level' is unacceptable. Through an integrated approach, involving remote robot handling of the radiographic equipment, safety can be better managed and higher productivity achieved, A particular benefit of this approach is the extremely fast source projection and retraction time compared with best current methods.

A Robot to Monitor Nuclear Facilities: Using Autonomous Radiation-Monitoring Assistance to Reduce Risk and Cost

IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, 2018

N uclear facilities often require continuous mo nitoring to ensure there is no contamination of radioactive materials that might lead to safety or environmental issues. The current approach to radiological monitoring is to use human operators, which is both time consuming and cost in efficient. As with many repetitive, routine tasks, there are considerable opportunities for the process to be improved using autonomous robotic systems. This article describes the design and development of an autonomous, groundbased radiologicalmonitoring robot, Continuous Autonomous RadiationMonitoring Assistance (CARMA), and how, when it was deployed in an active area at the U.K. 's Sellafield nuclear site, it detected and located a fixed a source embedded into the floor. This deployment was the first time that a fully autonomous robot had ever been deployed at Sellafield, the largest nuclear site in Europe. Expanding Efforts in an Increasingly Important Field Monitoring nuclear facilities and rapidly identifying any spread of radiological materials is of global concern.

COTS vision system, radiation sensor and 6 DoF robot for use in identifying radiologically uncharacterised objects

2020 Australian and New Zealand Control Conference (ANZCC), 2020

A novel, semi-autonomous radiological scanning system for inspecting uncharacterised objects is presented. The research utilises commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) electronic components, intended for use in relatively low radioactive dose environments. To illustrate the concept, a Microsoft Kinect, a Universal Robots UR3 (6 degree of freedom) manipulator and a Kromek RadAngel gamma radiation spectrometer are utilised. The new control software allows the remote operator to select the required object, before the robot arm autonomously scans it, enabling the generation of various radiological spectra shapes. These data inform the operator of any likely radioisotopes present and where they are located in the object.

Demonstration of the robotic gamma locating and isotopic identification device

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) continually seeks safer and more cost-effective technologies for use in decontaminating and decommissioning nuclear facilities. To this end, the Deactivation and Decommissioning Focus Area of DOE's Office of Science and Technology sponsors Large-Scale Demonstration and Deployment Projects (LSDDP) to test new technologies. As part of these projects, developers and vendors showcase new products designed to decrease health and safety risks to personnel and the environment, increase productivity, and lower costs. As part of the FY 2000 and 2001 LSDDP, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) collaborated with the Russian Research and Development Institute of Construction Technology (NIKIMT). This collaboration resulted in the development of the Robotic Gamma Locating and Isotopic Identification Device (RGL&IID) which integrates DOE Robotics Crosscutting (Rbx) technology with NIKIMT Russian gamma locating and iso...

The Gamma and Neutron Sensor System for Rapid Dose Rate Mapping in the CLEANDEM Project

Sensors

The decommissioning of nuclear installations, as well as the possible necessary accident remediations, requires the physical presence of human operators in potentially radiologically hostile environments. The number of active nuclear reactors worldwide is greater than 400, and most of them are 40 to 50 years old, thus implying that soon they will have to be dismantled. In the framework of the H2020 CLEANDEM project, a small robotic vehicle is being developed that is equipped with a series of different sensors for areas that are significantly contaminated by radiation. In this work, we describe the MiniRadMeter system, a compact low-cost sensor capable of being used to perform quick gamma and neutron radiation field mapping of environments prior to the possible start of human operations. The miniature gamma sensor is a 1 cm3 scintillator counter with moderate spectroscopic features read out by means of a 6 Ă— 6 mm2 SiPM, whereas neutrons are detected by means of a silicon diode couple...

A Prototype of a Robotic Research Facility for Nuclear Applications

Projectus, 2017

This work presents the development of the prototype of a robotic nuclear monitoring facility aimed to support technological and scientific research. It is a terrestrial robot in which nuclear and conventional instrumentation are available and easy-to-use through a user-friendly library for Python programming. The facility may be teleoperated (by mobile devices, notebook or desktop) or operate in autonomous mode, in which a user-defined program run on robot CPU.

Evaluation of the next generation gamma imager

2013 3rd International Conference on Advancements in Nuclear Instrumentation, Measurement Methods and their Applications (ANIMMA), 2013

Towards the end of their life-cycle, nuclear facilities are generally associated with high levels of radiation exposure. The implementation of the ALARA principle requires limiting the radiation exposure of the operating people during the different tasks of maintenance, decontamination and decommissioning. CANBERRA's latest involvement in the provision of nuclear measurement solutions has led, in the framework of a technology transfer agreement with CEA LIST, to the development of a new generation gamma imager. The latter, which is designed for an accurate localization of radioactive hotspots, consists of a pixilated chip hybridized to a 1 mm thick CdTe substrate to record photon pulses and a coded mask aperture allowing for background noise subtraction by means of a procedure called mask/anti-mask, which greatly contributes to the reduced size and weight of the gamma imager as gamma shielding around the detector is less required. The spatial radioactivity map is automatically superimposed onto a pre-recorded photographic (visible) image of the scene of interest. In an effort to evaluate the performances of the new gamma imager, several experimental tests have been performed on a industrial prototype to investigate its detection response, including photon sensitivity and angular resolution, over a wide energy range (at least from 59 keV to 1330 keV). The impact of the background noise was also evaluated together with some future features like energy discrimination and parallax correction. This paper presents and discusses the main results obtained in the above experimental study. A comparison with Monte Carlo simulations using the MCNP code is provided as well.

Performance Evaluation of an Imaging Radiation Portal Monitor System

Applied Sciences

An organic scintillator-based radiation portal monitor (RPM) prototype system with imaging capabilities has been developed based on the neutron–gamma emission tomography technique. The technique enables rapid detection and precise location of small amounts of special nuclear materials, such as plutonium, using time and energy correlations between fast neutrons and gamma rays from spontaneous fission with low false-alarm rates. These capabilities, in addition to state-of-the-art detection of various gamma-emitting sources, enables the novel imaging RPM concept to efficiently address global security threats from terrorism and the proliferation of nuclear weapons. The detector approach is simple and versatile and can easily be adapted for different applications in nuclear security, public safety, nuclear emergency response, and radiological surveying. In this work, basic performance parameters of the imaging RPM prototype system developed at KTH have been evaluated.