| Client | Xcel Energy |
| Facility | Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station |
| Location | Greeley, CO |
Removing Reactor Head Section
Fort Saint Vrain Nuclear Generating Station, the first commercial high-temperature gas cooled reactor, operated from 1976 to 1989. It was also the first successful decommissioning of a nuclear reactor in the world. S.A.Robotics provided valuable equipment to help safely complete the decommissioning.
S.A.Robotics personnel designed, installed and operated a complete line of equipment during the decommissioning project at the Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station. This project included decontamination of the facility and removal of all reactor internal components and debris. This process required preparation of conceptual and design documents for the development and implementation of remote operated systems to remove and package radioactive contaminated components.
Removing Last Sections of Concrete
S.A.Robotics was also involved in the design and operation of the shield water and sludge separation system for the project. This system processed shield water and provided for sludge and resin waste processing and packaging. An Internal Reactor Characterization Program was implemented to perform a complete reactor survey and a sampling program prior to flooding the vessel for dismantlement. Resulting data was used to determine vital decommissioning activities within the vessel.
As part of reactor dismantlement, S.A.Robotics performed process design, fabrication, and testing of remote nuclear applications. S.A.Robotics built underwater large component shears, plasma cutting arms, and multiple specialized component removal devices. These systems utilized the latest in media and water blasting technologies. Over 1,000 radioactive shipping containers were processed during the decommissioning effort.
The decontamination system designed and constructed for Fort St. Vrain utilized a blast system with a supporting remote delivery system. The decontamination system minimized radiological exposure and maintained complete containment throughout the process. Additionally, clean-up of the Reactor Building Sump was achieved with the design and implementation of a system to remove thousands of gallons of contaminated sludge and slurry from the reactor building sump pit. The system remotely pumped and packaged contaminated waste. The sump was cleaned using a dry media blast system with suction recovery, and it was free-released. Suction and blast heads employed in the process were delivered remotely via a long arm and a gantry system.