A pioneering turbine island fire-fighting robotic workcell with elements of artificial intelligence will be introduced at the Kalinin NPP. Specialists have already begun research and development (R&D). This was announced by Valery Kharevsky, Deputy Director of the Rosenergoatom Fire Safety Service, during a visiting working meeting on the innovative project implementation, which took place at the Kalinin NPP from February 16 to 19, 2021.

He explained that the workcell under development includes a set of robotic fire monitors and will be integrated into the existing fire-fighting system. ‘The operation is based on the principle that a program assigns each robot with its own specific sector, which it scans with a thermal imager. If a fire is detected, the system transmits a corresponding signal to the power unit control room and starts to extinguish fire automatically or under the operator control,’ said Valery Kharevsky.

Compressed air foam is used by the workcell to extinguish fires. It shields a fire source from oxygen, so that the combustion stops almost instantly. In addition to foam, robots use water to protect the turbine island structural frame from high temperatures.

‘The first stage turbine island of the Kalinin NPP is a unique and technically sophisticated facility due to its scale and large amount of equipment. The introduction of fire robots will not only significantly improve the production safety, but will save the lives of our personnel and firefighters as well,’ stressed Aleksey Soloviev, the head of the fire safety department of the Kalinin NPP.

All development stages for a fire-fighting robotic workcell, including construction and testing are planned to be completed by March 2021. About 50 million rubles will be provided for the development. In the future, this technology can be implemented not only at nuclear power plants, but also at power plants of other types.