Called maintenance equipment integrated system of telecontrol robot (MEISTeR), the robot is designed to perform maintenance, repair and other tasks at disaster or severe accident sites.
Carried out since late last month, the testing covered two decontamination processes, one using a jet of abrasive blast material to scrape off a thin layer of a contaminated surface, while during the second, the robot sucked up the plant’s radioactive material through a dedicated nozzle.
The testing also confirmed the robot’s travel capability inside the plant’s narrow passageways, and its ability to perform concrete core sampling aimed at investigating the level of contamination inside the reactor building.
An upgraded variant of MHI’s disaster response robot, MEISTeR has significantly been improved in terms of radioactive resistance and remote control capability, which makes it adaptable to perform a variety of tasks in highly radioactive locations.
Based on MHI’s abundant maintenance technologies cultivated at nuclear power facilities, the improvements were implemented in collaboration with TEPCO and the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) as part of a project funded by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
Weighing 440kg, the robot features double arms, each having a 7-axis control system, and can carry objects weighing up to 15kg.
Apart from to inspection and maintenance, the robot can also perform decontamination work, concrete core sampling, cutting of handrails and piping, removal of obstacles, as well as repair works.
