A robotic snake armed with a laser has demonstrated the capability to operate inside fusion power plant pipes without sustaining damage.

This seven-year £2.7 million project by the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Remote Applications in Challenging Environments was delivered as part of EUROfusion’s flagship DEMO programme. The DEMO programme is the successor to ITER and is a cross European group of experts, students and staff from across Europe collaborating to realise fusion energy, co-funded by the European Commission. 

The development of the robot snake is a big step forward in creating a fusion energy powerplant.  Maintenance of any fusion energy plant will not involve any humans due to the extremely hazardous environment

Tristan Tremethick, Lead Mechanical Design Engineer, UKAEA, said, “In fusion machines, pipework has to be connected and disconnected remotely because of the hazardous environment. Pipework in DEMO is extra challenging because of the limited working space. We’ve been looking at different ways of tackling this and I’m delighted our new snake has passed its first set of trials.”

An ultrasonic sensor system the robotic snake has allows the snake to move around the pipework will still identifying its precise location.

Tristan Tremethick said of the sensor system, “Ultrasonic sensors enable the snake to find the correct position, where it then clamps to the pipe and performs the weld from the inside. After the weld, the tool retracts and is removed from the pipe where it can be redeployed.”