The possibilities for robotic applications in the decommissioning of AMB-100 and AMB-200 power units that have exhausted their resources have been discussed at the Beloyarsk NPP. A group of companies experienced in supplying robotic equipment to ROSATOM plants presented their developments to the NPP management.

For the first time, this topic becomes relevant for the Beloyarsk NPP, since decontamination, equipment dismantling, buildings and structures demolition will be carried out after the removal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from power units No. 1 and No. 2.

The key works will be carried out by specialists of the Rosenergoatom branch subdivision created in 2020 at the Beloyarsk NPP - the Experimental Demonstration Engineering Centre for the Decommissioning of NPP Units with Channel-Type Reactors (ODIC RBMK).

'Earlier in global and local practice, decommissioning works were mostly carried out manually or by means of electric tools at best. The use of robotic equipment will reduce costs and completion time, as well as significantly improve safety profile for radiation exposure conditions. In addition, using of robots will increase labor efficiency and make it possible to perform dismantling in hard-to-reach places,' said Andrei Rovneiko, deputy director of the ODIC RBMK.

Robotic equipment is fitted with video cameras and various sensors allowing the operator to control it from a safe distance. Robots will be able to perform a wide range of tasks: from dismantling structures to loading materials into vehicles. Therefore, it is a good practice to use several types of robots with various accessories: a hydraulic breaker, hydraulic shears, gripper, bucket and demolition hammer.

At present, the Beloyarsk NPP has already got a mobile robot designed for remote retrieval of cassettes with SNF at power units No. 1 and No. 2 of the Beloyarsk NPP. However, to solve the tasks of decommissioning power units, a whole fleet of robots of various applications is required.

To recap, the first power unit of the Beloyarsk NPP with the AMB-100 reactor operated from 1964 till 1981, the second – AMB-200 – from 1967 till 1989. They produced 8.73 and 22.24 billion kW⋅h of electricity, respectively. Technological features, fuel types and structural materials were tested on them. They became the "progenitors" for a series of more powerful RBMK-1000 channel reactors.

Decommissioning works on the finally shut down power units of the Beloyarsk NPP will reach their full scale after 2027.