Test methods for robots for nuclear emergency response and decommissioning; Tests for moving performances of robots (JAEA-TM-0004 and JAEA-TM-0005)

Kawabata, Kuniaki   ; Yamada, Taichi ; Abe, Hiroyuki*

This report describes the test procedures for performance evaluation of remotely operated robot utilized for nuclear emergency responses and decommissioning that provide to compare among the robot's performances quantitatively and relatively. After the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. (FDNPS) occurred, remotely operated robots have been deployed and utilized in the response tasks. Such post-accident work experiences and lessons learned are very valuable for developing the robots in the future. Therefore, we were motivated to develop the test methods for performance evaluation of the robot by referring with such experiences and lessons. In recent decommissioning tasks, reconnaissance on the distribution and status of nuclear fuel debris inside the Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) have been carried out. The insertion and deployment of robots into PCV were carried out through a penetration pipe with small diameter to prevent the scattering of radioactive materials. According to the authors' survey on such works have carried out in Units 1 and 2 of FDNPS, in order to carry out the reconnaissance work by the robot deployed into the PCV, it was clarified that the robots are required to run freely on the floor located below the exit of the penetration pipe and run freely on the inclined surface located below the exit of the pipe. This document describes two test procedures for performance evaluation of the robot connected with the cable such as running on the floor after being deployed through a penetration pipe and running on the inclined surface after being deployed through a penetration pipe. Typical course layout and the demonstration of test running are also illustrated for the references.