Operating in a nonfixtured environment, a gantry robot, vision system, and 3-D guidance software seal radioactive-waste containers.
By Babak Habibi
The Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is a US Department of Energy national laboratory with extensive programs in nuclear science and radioactive-waste management. At the INL, engineers from contractor Battelle Energy Alliance are developing and constructing a prototype nuclear-waste-package closure system (WPCS) within a dedicated workcell. Several operations are performed within this cell to prepare the container for storage at a long-term waste-disposal facility, including closing the radioactive waste package, welding lids onto the waste-package container, filling the inner container with an inert gas, performing nondestructive inspection on welds, and conducting weld-stress mitigation. Because of the hazards of handling radioactive waste, these activities must be performed by automated, operator-interactive control.
