DOE EM RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY ROADMAP ROBOTICS AND REMOTE SYSTEMS FOR NUCLEAR CLEANUP Environmental 2018 Management MARCH 2018 |3 Table of Contents 4 Executive Summary 6 Introduction • Mission Challenge • Risks to DOE-EM Workforce • Robotics and Remotes Systems to Reduce Risks to the Workforce • Purpose and Plan 15 EM Site Needs • Nondestructive Assay (NDA) of Process Equipment and Piping • Remote Structural Evaluation • Site Modeling, Work Planning, and Training • Hazardous Material Handling • Fluid and Liquid Waste Processing and Removal • Process Equipment Removal • Visual Inspection and Inventory Operations • Hazardous, Reactive and Explosive Gas Monitoring and Removal • Access and Assessment of Confined, Physically Challenging Spaces • Mapping and Assessment of Underwater Radiation Environments • Material Handling and Manipulation in Glove Boxes and Hot Cells • Remote Remediation of Contaminated, Physically Challenging Spaces • Emergency Response • Worker Enhancement and Injury Reduction • Waste Material and Landfill Operations • Soil Characterization and Handling • Remote Equipment Maintenance and Repair 21 Key Technologies • Key Technology Discussions • Summary and Conclusions 38 Conclusions • Considerations for DOE-EM Leadership • Considerations for DOE-EM Sites and Contractors • A Notional Research and Development Path Forward Supporting Documentation • Appendix A: Robotics Glossary of Terms • Appendix B: Technology Readiness Levels • Appendix C: Key Technology Data Sheets • Appendix D: Selected EM Site Feedback • Appendix E: Robotics Demonstrations: Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, August 2016 • Appendix F: Robotic Handling of High Consequence Materials of Interest to DOE-EM: State-of-the-art, Needs and Opportunities 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for the waste legacy of the nation’s nuclear facilities. EM’s mission includes long-term storage of nuclear waste products, as well as the assessment and remediation of several obsolete or aging nuclear facilities. This mission is projected to span many decades and cost hundreds of billions of dollars, with the most challenging sites and tasks still on the horizon. Many current and projected EM tasks present unique hazards to the workforce, including chemical, biological, and radiological contamination, as well as ergonomic issues. Because of these hazards, DOE-EM’s Technology Development Office (TDO) is actively pursuing the use of robotic tools to increase the safety and efficiency of workforce personnel. Robotics and remote systems provide the potential to augment the abilities of workforce personnel, reduce acute and chronic injury rates, reduce radiation exposure, and remove workers from the immediate proximity of the most hazardous materials and areas. While EM’s challenges contain many unique elements, there is substantial overlap between EM’s robotic needs and the needs of other government and industrial domains, both domestically and internationally. Other agencies and industries will benefit from DOE’s robotic developments as DOE continues to leverage developments from other domains. The purpose of this roadmap is to provide direction to accelerate the integration of robotic and remote systems into EM environments. The goals behind this initiative are described in more detail in Chapter 2. The DOE-EM Robotics and Remote Systems Roadmap is motivated by specific mission needs at EM sites. Before proposing or assessing any specific technologies, the roadmap team solicited feedback from all the EM sites and visited several of the sites to better understand their needs and challenges. The roadmap team identified and aggregated the needs across the EM complex that could potentially be addressed through the use of robotics and remote systems. These needs include both assessment and remediation tasks in a variety of environments that experience challenges with the use of existing tools and methods. A summary of these needs is provided in Chapter 3. These needs should be used as a resource to technology developers as they consider potential solutions. Based on the EM needs identified in Chapter 3, the roadmap team identified several key robotic and remote systems technologies with the potential to enable these challenging tasks to be completed more safely and effectively. These technologies include a number of traditional robotic capabilities, such as mobility, manipulation, and perception, as well as challenges that are more unique to DOE-EM’s environments, such as radiation tolerance and contamination control. Each key technology is briefly described and assessed in three areas—readiness, ease of integration, and uniqueness to EM—in Chapter 4. Based on these assessments, the roadmap team specified technologies of particular interest for DOE development. These technologies include those that are unique to EM’s missions, such as radiation tolerant and de- contaminable robots, as well as technologies that are anticipated to address the most pressing short-term EM site needs, such as environmental sensors and autonomous perception and mapping. Considerations of long-term remediation challenges suggest technologies that should be considered for long-term strategic research and development, including advanced manipulation and mobility platforms and autonomous navigation. A notional path forward for research and development is provided in Chapter 5. Considerations for EM leadership, EM EXECUTIVE SUMMARY sites, and the broader technology development community are also provided. These considerations are intended to lay the groundwork for an accelerated effort to develop and integrate robotics and remote systems at EM sites. The conclusions of this effort are summarized as follows: • DOE should pursue a balanced portfolio of short-, medium-, and long-term development efforts, in order to achieve a higher impact and return on technology development investments. » Short-term deployment efforts can be managed by EM sites, target specific needs, and focus on high-readiness technologies, such as robotically-deployed sensor platforms or modeling and simulation. These technologies may be available commercially or from DOE national laboratories. » Medium-term development efforts can be managed by TDO, target cross cutting needs, and focus on technologies in need of applied research or advanced development, such as decontaminable systems, environmental sensing or autonomous perception and mapping. DOE national laboratories are uniquely suited to contribute to this phase of development. Universities and industries may also participate in these activities. » Long-term research and development efforts can be managed by the DOE Office of Science or TDO in collaboration with other federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation. This research is not as tightly connected to a specific need and involves increased risk and potential reward. Technologies that need substantial development to meet long-term remediation challenges at the most complex EM sites, such as advanced autonomous manipulation, mobility, and navigation should be considered. • DOE should focus technology development investments on unique technologies, such as radiation tolerant or de-contaminable robotics, while actively leveraging development in other areas. Some custom integration to EM missions will be required for most leveraged technologies. • EM sites should consider appropriate procurement methods when integrating new technologies and collaborate with TDO and the national laboratories for consulting and technical review. • Technology developers should seek to understand EM’s unique needs and challenges as they construct research plans and portfolios, and before proposing solutions. This roadmap provides a summary of these needs and challenges. More information is available from TDO and DOE’s national laboratories. • Practical considerations, such as workforce training and contract incentives for site contractors who integrate new technologies, should not be neglected. • Tight collaboration between developers and workforce personnel is essential to successful integration of robotics and remote systems. This collaboration provides critical feedback to developers while acclimating workforce personnel to the technology. TDO and DOE’s national laboratories can facilitate these interactions. This roadmap in intended to receive updates periodically as EM challenges and robotic technologies evolve in coming years. 6 | EM TD ROBOTICS ROADMAP 2. INTRODUCTION The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) is responsible for managing the cleanup and waste legacy of the nation’s nuclear facilities. The work required to complete this mission is uniquely challenging due to the hazards associated with the nation’s nuclear facilities, coupled with the complex nature and environment of much of the work involved. Appropriate technology insertion is necessary to accomplish EM’s mission safely and efficiently. Robotics and remote systems present a particularly compelling set of technologies due to their potential capability to augment, protect, or remove workforce personnel from the immediate proximity of many of the most dangerous hazards. This roadmap introduces the EM mission and specifically identifies EM needs for which robotics and remote system may provide benefits. Based on these EM needs, key technologies are identified and assessed to provide specific recommendations to EM stakeholders, including EM leadership,