How robot dogs helping clean up Sellafield nuclear power station

Sellafield Ltd is now using quadrupedal (four-legged) robots to help speed up decommissioning. This helps improve safety and reduce human exposure to hazardous environments.

Background

Sellafield is located on the Cumbrian coast in England, it is a massive nuclear complex transitioning from power generation and fuel reprocessing to decommissioning, waste management, and environmental remediation. As the UK’s, and one of Europe’s, most complex nuclear sites, it historically pioneered nuclear technologies, including the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, Calder Hall, which operated from 1956 to 2003. 

How can robot dogs help ?

Sellafield is one of the most complex nuclear sites in the world. Parts of the site are hazardous and can be difficult or unsafe to access.

The decommissioning work increasingly depends on high‑quality inspections. These ensure accurate data collection, enabling timely decision‑making.

At the same time, they must reduce the need for workers to enter radiological or industrially risky areas. Manual inspections can expose people to unnecessary hazards. This is especially the case in active areas, confined spaces, or locations with restricted access.

To address these challenges, they are finding advanced solutions. These include developing robotics through the RAICo 1 programme and the supply chain and partners.

Four-legged robots in particular, offer huge potential to improve the way they carry out inspections and monitoring.

As they progress decommissioning, more facilities will require surveillance. This means the robots will become invaluable. Especially when operated remotely.

The quadrupedal robot in an active cell – Image via gov.uk

Four-legged robots are the solution. They will be using more of them to do more work in areas where they don’t want humans to be. They will carry out routine tasks such as mapping, data capture and characterisation.

Find out more at – https://www.gov.uk/government/case-studies/how-are-robot-dogs-helping-clean-up-sellafield