Radiation Surveys in Active Nuclear Facilities with Heterogeneous Collaborative Mobile Robots

TL;DR

This paper introduces a heterogeneous robot team system designed to perform comprehensive radiation surveys in nuclear facilities, reducing human exposure and improving survey thoroughness.

Contribution

The paper presents the design and implementation of the Robot Radiation Survey System (RRSS), a novel multi-robot approach for radiation monitoring in nuclear environments.

Findings

Effective detection of alpha, beta, and gamma radiation

Reduced human exposure during surveys

Enhanced survey coverage and efficiency

Abstract

Nuclear facilities must routinely survey their infrastructure for radiation contamination. Generally, this is done by trained professionals, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) that swipe potentially contaminated surfaces and test the wipes under detectors. This approach leaves personnel vulnerable to radiation exposure and is not comprehensive. Robots address these inadequacies, offering a cost-effective solution with negligible downtime. We present a Robot Radiation Survey System (RRSS): a heterogeneous robot team to perform comprehensive alpha/beta/gamma radiation surveys. The RRSS system members, core capabilities, and comprehensive survey plan are addresses in this paper.