Scotland: robot dog performs “unsafe” task at nuclear plant

A robot dog named Spot has been used to turn on a crane to pick up waste containers at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Scotland. The operation was considered too risky for human workers. The switchboard used by the robot had laid inactive for nearly two years after safety restrictions forbade workers from approaching. However, the facility needed to move waste containers as part of its ongoing decommissioning efforts. After discussions with the innovation team, Spot was tasked with the job. The robot held a pole and used it to hit the switch activating the crane. Senior Facility Manager Suzy Nellies thanked the “outstanding teamwork” that led to the successful operation and added that the plant staff will modernise the crane to bring it back into full service.
Dounreay was opened in the 1950s as an experimental nuclear power site and is now being decommissioned. Kate Canning, of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), said that the deployment of robots at the site helped to keep workers safe. Spot, made by Boston Dynamics, can re-balance if knocked over, can move on uneven or rough terrain, and carries a scanner that can show staff the state of badly damaged buildings. Robots are increasingly used to carry out operations in hazardous environments, with snake-like or worm-like devices recently employed to probe the conditions of abandoned science facilities and pipelines contaminated with radioactive material.