Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Path planning in nuclear facility decommissioning: Research status, challenges, and opportunities

  • Adibeli, Justina Onyinyechukwu (Fundamental Science on Nuclear Safety and Simulation Technology Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University) ;
  • Liu, Yong-kuo (Fundamental Science on Nuclear Safety and Simulation Technology Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University) ;
  • Ayodeji, Abiodun (State Key Laboratory of Industrial Control Technology, Zhejiang University) ;
  • Awodi, Ngbede Junior (Fundamental Science on Nuclear Safety and Simulation Technology Laboratory, Harbin Engineering University)
  • Received : 2020.07.06
  • Accepted : 2021.05.30
  • Published : 2021.11.25
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Abstract

During nuclear facility decommissioning, workers are continuously exposed to high-level radiation. Hence, adequate path planning is critical to protect workers from unnecessary radiation exposure. This work discusses recent development in radioactive path planning and the algorithms recommended for the task. Specifically, we review the conventional methods for nuclear decommissioning path planning, analyze the techniques utilized in developing algorithms, and enumerate the decision factors that should be considered to optimize path planning algorithms. As a major contribution, we present the quantitative performance comparison of different algorithms utilized in solving path planning problems in nuclear decommissioning and highlight their merits and drawbacks. Also, we discuss techniques and critical consideration necessary for efficient application of robots and robotic path planning algorithms in nuclear facility decommissioning. Moreover, we analyze the influence of obstacles and the environmental/radioactive source dynamics on algorithms' efficiency. Finally, we recommend future research focus and highlight critical improvements required for the existing approaches towards a safer and cost-effective nuclear-decommissioning project.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This research work was funded by Harbin Engineering University. We also acknowledge the technical support project for Suzhou Nuclear Power Research Institute (SNPI) (NO.029-GN-B2018-C45-P.0.99-00003), the Foundation of Science and Technology on Reactor System Design Technology Laboratory (HT-KFKT-14-2017003) and the project of Research Institute of Nuclear Power Operation (No.RIN180149-SCCG).

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