Robotics for maintenance of Steam Generators in a Small Modular Reactor

The use of robotics and automation as means for increasing safety in Nuclear Power Plants is a recommended practice by the IAEA. One of the driving motivations is to avoid human exposure to hazarduous environments and tasks during inspection, maintenance, operation, decommission and accident response activities. In recent years, several robotic systems have been proposed for each of these stages in the life cycle of NPPs. One critical maintenance activity is the inspection of Steam Generator (SG) tubes. In this work, we present a robotic system for SG tube inspection and maintenance under development for a new 4th generation Small Modular Reactor in Argentina. The proposed system includes the use of a commercially available robotic manipulator, together with tailored programming, custom-designed tools and a rail transportation system inside the contention. The leading notion is to take advantage of the precision, repeatability, security standards and reliability achieved in the field of industrial robotic arms, while custom-designing the necessary elements to obtain a solution applicable to the particular field of maintenance in an NPP.