Russia unveils new robot for repairing nuclear power plants

By Nicholas Nduati,

It’s a new dawn for nuclear power plants after a unique robot assigned with the task of performing diagnostics and repair of wall linings and the cooling ponds bottom of water-water energetic reactor units (VVER-1200) was tested at the Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant in Russia.

The robotics device was constructed specifically for servicing new types of nuclear power plants. Additional operations like draining water from the pool or unloading fuel in order to operate the Nuclear Power Plant are no longer required, unlike the current way of operation.

The distinguishing feature of the robot is its versatility: it looks for potential leaks, determines their coordinates, cleans up the defective surface and performs plating of the surface by welding. Its repair modules are equipped with swivel brackets which allows for work in any hard-to-reach areas of the pool, for example, in the corners.

“A robot that can inspect and repair the lining of the fuel pool, if necessary, will quickly eliminate leaks to maintain the design water level in it,” Aleksandr Belyaev, Leningrad NPP-2 chief engineer says.

The device was tested at a special stand, where experts simulated the entire chain of operations it needs to perform.