Researchers at Australia’s national science agency have developed a world-leading system to safeguard spent nuclear fuel around the world.
The Robotic Cerenkov Observation Device (RCVD) autonomously navigates the spent fuel pool and provides inspectors with real-time footage and data that can be used for safeguards verification, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) revealed on Tuesday.
Developed by CSIRO’s digital specialists unit Data61 and Hungarian robotics company Datastart, RCVD analyzes the location of each fuel assembly and its unique characteristics to detect whether nuclear fuel has been removed or replaced.
Rosie Attwell, technical program manager at CSIRO, said the technology could remove the risk to humans securing nuclear material.
“This test shows that autonomous robots could soon assist in the measurement and analysis of spent nuclear fuel on site, providing better protection for human workers,” she said in a media release.
“Inspectors currently operate from a suspended platform above the pond, sometimes in 40C heat, using handheld devices to identify hundreds of spent nuclear fuel rods.
“This new technology will keep humans safe and ensure that the speed of security inspections matches the speed of nuclear material.”
The team is now working to improve the RVCD’s ability to navigate and take detailed photos so that it can mimic a human inspector.
They also intend to equip it with computer vision to enhance its autonomy in the next round of development.
(Cover from CFP)
Source: Xinhua News Agency
