James Fisher Nuclear Ltd (JFN) of Egremont, Cumbria in England has just released video footage of one of its three Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV300 Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) systems currently operating and working in hazardous environments within storage ponds at the Sellafield nuclear facility in Northern England.
The video clip shows the ROV grabbing and lifting a cobalt 60 cartridge weighing approximately 5Kg. The ROV then moves the cartridge to a new location (not shown in the video).
Since May this year, more than 4500Kg of waste material has been inspected and repositioned within storage ponds at Sellafield in over 200 hours of operations using Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV300 ROVs.
The vehicles are fitted with a specialized grabber arm skid which allows the operator to remotely position the arm vertically below the center of mass of the vehicle. This technique ensures the vehicle remains stable and fully manoeuvrable while it carries heavy loads.
While the basic vehicles used in this application are a standard design, Teledyne SeaBotix has worked closely with JFN to develop specialized components and procedures to achieve these results.
The Teledyne SeaBotix vLBV, built and delivered from the SeaBotix factory in San Diego, California is an ideal solution for this task. The vLBV is light enough to be deployed by hand but still has sufficient power and lift capability for payload, tooling, and sensors in order to carry out meaningful work in extremely robust and hazardous environments.