Robotic cleaning system order placed

Following extensive trials, the British Nuclear Group has chosen the new robotic cleaning system from KMT Cutting Systems AB, placing an order worth approximately GBP 300,000.

Following extensive trials, the British Nuclear Group has chosen the new robotic cleaning system from KMT Cutting Systems AB, a subsidiary of engineering group, KMT, for specialist surface cleaning of contaminated spent nuclear fuel skips.

The order from British Nuclear Group, worth approximately GBP 300,000, is the first for KMT Cutting Systems in the nuclear industry.

The new robotic cleaning system will be delivered during the first quarter of 2006.

"The order from British Nuclear Group is of significant strategic importance for us as it represents our entry into the nuclear industry, a new and very important market sector for KMT," said Ulf Andersson, project manager at KMT Cutting Systems.

British Nuclear Group is a specialist site management and nuclear clean-up business, employing around 15,000 people.

Part of the BNFL Group, the company aims to deliver accelerated nuclear clean-up programmes, safely and cost-effectively for customers in the UK and overseas.

The new cleaning system from KMT Cutting Systems (formerly ABB I-R Waterjet Systems) has been specified and will be employed by British Nuclear Group's Reactor Sites Business.

The new cleaning system is based on KMT's Cutting Box Blaster, a system designed to offer efficient, fast and accurate removal of coatings, grease and other substances from metal surfaces.

The machine currently under construction for British Nuclear Group will be used to remove contaminated paint and layers of corrosion from the surface of skips that previously contained spent nuclear fuel.

The cleaning process will take the skips back to base metal, converting them into low level nuclear waste, suitable for export and storage at the nuclear waste repository at Drigg in Cumbria.

Paul Etchells, UK sales manager for KMT Cutting Systems, added: "By converting the skips to low level nuclear waste instead of intermediate level waste, the robotic cleaning solution from KMT provides substantial savings in storage costs.

British Nuclear Group will also be able to double the number of skips that can be cleaned in a day, while greatly reducing the need for personnel to work in radiation contaminated environments." Andersson added: "British Nuclear Group chose KMT Cutting Systems as preferred supplier because they sought a dependable product, both operationally and in production terms, and one which could fulfil a strict specification.

We have nearly 15 years combined experience of developing and building advanced robot systems.

The fact that we could also guarantee a rapid delivery of a specially-adapted system was also an influencing factor.

As well as this application in the nuclear industry, the Cutting Box Blaster has many other functions, from removing paint on fixtures used in curing ovens for automotive bodies and removing excess polyurethane and other plastics from injection mouldings to cleaning blades in refurbishment work on diesel turbines and aircraft jet engines.

The system also offers the option of abrasive blasting using a mixture of water and sand within the same cell.

The machine for British Nuclear Group is based around one floor-mounted robot, but the Cutting Box Blaster can be equipped with up to two robots, which are normally inverted either in fixed positions or able to move on tracks attached to the ceiling of the cell.

The cleaning jet in the system is produced by forcing a fine jet of water at very high pressure through a multiple set of nozzles in a unit called a rotojet, mounted on the robot arm in the same way as a waterjet cutting head or routing head in other KMT Cutting Box designs.

The rotojet nozzles are mounted within a body that is rotated independently by a pneumatically driven motor.

This produces a 'cone'-shaped cleaning jet that, combined with the movement of the robot or the worktable, provides optimum coverage for cleaning a surface that is productive and flexible.

Both rotating and fixed worktables are available for use in the Cutting Box Blaster.

In addition, instead of high-pressure steel tubing, the high pressure water entering the rotojet unit is passed through high-pressure flexible hosing to ensure the movement of the robot offers maximum flexibility for the cleaning process The Cutting Box Blaster is a safe, ergonomic and clean system, easily accessed through clear sliding doors which also give an excellent view of the cleaning operation.

Whilst providing a spacious interior, the sound proof enclosure of the Cutting Box Blaster still offers a very compact footprint for installation in the cleaning shop or on the production floor.

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