NIIP JSC Research Institute of Instrumentation has competed testing of the ROIN R100 robotic system designed for radiation-hazardous facility decommissioning and radioactive waste management. According to NIIP, it can be applied in installation and disassembly operations during the decommissioning of industrial radiation-hazardous facilities, extraction, segmenting, sorting and containerization of radioactive waste.

The tests were performed on the GU-200 research isotope reactor to confirm the resistance of electronic equipment, components base and structural materials to gamma radiation. The studies have determined the accurate permissible ionizing radiation exposure limit values for system operation and reliable operation of the unit in high radiation conditions have been demonstrated.

The system was developed by the INTECHROS mechanical-engineering group of companies, Russia's largest manufacturer of robots and equipment for various industries.

"The tests were conducted for a week. We have performed thorough preparation for testing this large-sized item – 3×0.8×1.8 m, weighing 2 tonnes. This allowed for avoiding possible challenges both when moving it around the site and when being in the GU-200 research isotope reactor exposure area and predetermined the successful completion of the work," said Ivan Asanov, Test Engineer, NIIP JSC.

"Our robot equipped with a control system in a radiation protection enclosure can reliably operate in environments with high background radiation. The radiation protection values achieved are already the best in Russia for this equipment grade, however, we will continue our work on increasing failure-free operation time of the unit when applied in radioactive contamination conditions," noted Aleksei Sanchenko, Deputy Chief Designer, Lead Design Engineer, INTECHROS MGC JSC.

Image: Radiation testing of the ROIN R100 robot has been completed