What swims, takes underwater pictures and doesn't mind a splash in highly radioactive water at a nuclear power plant?
That would be GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy's new underwater, camera-outfitted bot, which is able to inspect containment vessels without human inspectors maneuvering cameras with poles or ropes during maintenance or refueling outages.
GE Hitachi is touting the new submersible, mechanical inspector. In Georgia, “a dip in the old swimming hole,” is de riguer for those long, hot summer days, writes Mike Keller in an article posted on the GE Reports Web site. However, “the crystal-clear blue waters of the containment vessel,” is an unwise choice for humans, who risk exposure to radiation in their routine inspections.
At the Edwin Irby Hatch Power Plant run by Southern Nuclear Operating Company, however, the robot that is taking a swim is replacing the old routine of cameras mounted on poles. The plant's new team member “is happy to jump in,” Keller writes. “He's call Stinger, the swimming robot, and allows nuclear plant personnel to go places no human could reach before.”
The new robot is “a bit taller than the average human,” and works with computer-controlled thrusters and a multi-directional, high resolution color video camera. The swimming drone, if one can call it that, can stay submerged for up to three weeks and allows a good look at material degradation and cracked welds.
And what about welds that need to be cleaned before you can look at them? Stinger is outfitted with a high-pressure nozzle called a hydrolaser that can be directed at welds “to ensure a good, clean look at the welds.”
GE Hitachi engineer Brandon Smith, whose team developed the Stinger, said the first-of-its-kind bathing bot was “really good at getting into constricted spaces and around tight corners to look for any sign that a component might fail—to catch something before it becomes a problem.”