γ Ray irradiation test of motion control components of nuclear emergency rescue robot

After the Fukushima nuclear crisis, robots were used to detect irradiation dose rate and sample contaminated water inside the reactor. The necessity of robots in nuclear crisis and daily maintenance have been proved in past 40 years since the Three-mile island crisis. The key issue for a nuclear robot was irradiation hardness of all components, especially the electrical components. We conducted γ ray irradiation test for the minimize motion control system using Co-60 at the dose rate of 50Gy/h(Si). The results showed the irradiation hardness of typical components in mobile robots. The design goal of control system was to tolerated total dose of 100Gy, the original system has tolerated less dose. We used tungsten plate for shielding in the second test, the system survived under the ambient dose over 100Gy. Base on the results, we designed a minimum system which was a joint of robotic arm, it could tolerated 100Gy total dose.