Objective
Preparatory work to decommission the Windscale piles is being carried out. As part of this work, fuel debris and contaminated silt is to be recovered from 2 water-filled, 100 m long, 2.7 m x 2.1 m section fuel transfer ducts which connect the piles to the fuel storage pond.
As no commercial equipment exists which has been purpose-designed for generic nuclear applications, the main object of this work is to adapt and test a remotely controlled underwater vehicle provided with manipulators, on-board television systems and remote sensors for surveillance purposes. This includes the development of an underwater remotely controlled vehicle for use in nuclear applications, the development of techniques for fuel handling and silt recovery, and the assessment of equipment durability, radiation tolerance and of decontamination problems, eg, removal of concrete surfaces, etc.
The potential benefits of this work programme will be reduced doses to workers, decontamination and inspections, reduced secondary waste and reduced decommissioning costs due to lower labour input.
Information on costs, occupational exposure, work time and secondary waste arisings will be made available.
The work will include non-active trials in a full-size mock-up.
As no commercial equipment exists which has been purpose designed for generic nuclear applications, the main object of this work is to adapt and test a remotely controlled underwater vehicle provided with manipulators, on board television systems and remote sensors for surveillance purposes.
The specification for the vehicle has been completed. The vehicle is currently being manufactured. The dry test facility has been constructed. Work is proceeding in preparing the test facility for the vehicle development programme.
WORK PROGRAMME
1. Specification of the underwater vehicle, to allow manufacturers to tender.
2. Vehicle manufacture, at the tenderer's work.
3. Preparation of the full-size test mock-up of the entrance area to the water duct.
4. Adaptation and testing in the mock-up of the vehicle/system on its ability to perform the various decommissioning tasks.
4.1. Dry testing of the complete system.
4.2. Wet testing of the complete system.
5. Development in the active environment of Windscale Pile No. 1.
6. Final evaluation will include specific data on costs, work time, occupational exposure and the secondary waste arising from the technique.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
CA20 1PF Seascale
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.