For teams working with radioactive material, the Elios 3 RAD payload provides new opportunities for improved safety and access. This ranges from measuring radiation levels to identifying maintenance needs.

Benefits in a nutshell

• Access: with the Elios 3 RAD, you detect contamination by creating a heatmap of radiation, without anyone having to enter potentially dangerous environments to do so. 
• Comprehensive data: with the RAD payload, you collect data to create a heatmap of a potentially radioactive or contaminated environment in a range of confined spaces.  
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• Safety: this workflow ensures safer operations with better situational awareness as the RAD collects data without exposing people.

What is the Elios 3 RAD?

You are undoubtedly familiar with the Elios 3: a specialized drone tailor-made for inspections in confined spaces. The drone is equipped with a protective cage and a collision-tolerant flight algorithm to allow it to propel itself in difficult environments. This crash tolerance comes from its innovative design, where the cage protects the propellers. Specialized flight and engine controls, in turn, stabilize the drone in case of a collision. All these features make the Elios 3 the ideal aircraft for operations out of line of sight or in confined spaces too dangerous for human operators.  

The Elios 3 RAD is a combination of the Elios 3 drone and a radiation detection sensor that enables inspection workflows with radiation drones. The ideal tool for improving safety and speeding up operations related to radiation detection. In other words, the Elios 3 RAD makes it possible to detect and measure radioactive material. From material in a nuclear power plant to old radioactively contaminated assets that are part of nuclear decommissioning projects.  

The benefits of using a drone for nuclear inspections include:

• Optimised safety
  
• The drone can enter environments and explore an area to determine whether radiation levels are low enough to allow people inside. Or to determine whether further safety measures need to be taken. This is a considerable help in planning operations.  
• The drone can alert teams to changes in radiation levels and provide data that can help with quick decision-making and responses.  
  
• Better data collection
• The Elios 3 RAD can inspect contaminated areas and collect data that tells you more about radiation levels. This provides information not previously available with remote sensors.  
• The drone collects visual, volumetric and radiological data that provides input for both 3D modeling and drone radiological surveys.  
  
• Better access
  
• Using a drone for radiological inspections allows you to see more than before. The Elios 3 RAD can inspect assets, whether they are in a room or high in the sky. This enables comprehensive data collection for assets that were previously not easily accessible. 
• The Elios 3 (RAD) can fly to spaces without people because it is remotely controlled. You use it to inspect the inside of objects such as pipes. Only condition is that it fits inside. The drone only needs a space of 50 x 50 cm to go inside but a space of 60 x 60 cm to inspect.  
  

How to use the Elios 3 RAD for work with radioactive material?

The applications for the Elios 3 RAD range from inspecting nuclear power plants to contributing to nuclear decommissioning. Below you can read no less than three key examples of how to use this drone.

1. Managing radioactive waste repositories

Managing nuclear waste is a challenging task. Namely, it requires safe storage of materials that may be radioactive for thousands of years. In some cases, where that nuclear waste is sealed off, the Elios 3 has already 3D modelled radioactive environments rather than sending a person inside. Sometimes, however, this waste is stored in carefully constructed drums lined with cement. These are then kept in special storage areas where they are checked regularly to make sure the containment is in good condition.  

A drone inspection of nuclear waste storage with the Elios 3 RAD in such an environment is ideal. The Elios 3 RAD can regularly fly into the storage area and collect data on radiation levels. In many environments like this, radiation levels are governed by the ALARA rule: as low as reasonably achievable. This means doing everything reasonably achievable to keep people's radiation exposure as low as possible.  

With the Elios 3 RAD, a database of inspection results can be built and used to track changes in radiation levels. The recording of changes can help the radioactive waste management team plan maintenance requests or respond quickly if one of the storage areas is affected. In such situations, the Elios 3 RAD provides more data coverage with safer methods. This reduces the need for human exposure to this environment.

2. Scanning the site

A simple drone inspection of a nuclear power plant can save as much as $500,000. Safety is crucial in these environments as they may contain radioactive material. With the Elios 3 RAD, scans of rooms can be performed even before people enter a room to determine the radiation level in that room and perform a visual inspection.  

Suppose there is a possible break in a pipe containing possible radioactive waste in a nuclear power plant, the Elios 3 RAD can go to that room and make a quick assessment of the space. This drone could be used to create a heatmap of the radiation in the space to determine where the breach occurred and what the radiation level is. If the drone itself is exposed to the radiation, it could remain in that space and only contact would be needed for battery replacement and data collection. Provided the radiation has not affected the drone's mechanics. This means that the Elios 3 RAD can be used safely in a contaminated environment without potentially bringing out contamination. This sealed operational cycle provides situational data with a specific instrument while maintaining safety standards. 

Situations similar to this example could occur at sites such as nuclear power plants or nuclear decommissioning projects. The Elios 3 RAD offers a unique opportunity to improve safety while increasing site awareness by collecting more data from hard-to-reach sites.  

3. underground storage of radioactive material

Another example of radioactive waste management is underground storage facilities for the direct disposal of nuclear waste. There are such projects all over the world, where the aim is to reduce the likelihood of people coming into contact with radioactive materials by storing them deep underground. Some of these spaces are completely enclosed, while others are checked regularly. This is because the storage areas may need maintenance, such as repairing the concrete walls.  

The Elios 3 RAD can enter these confined spaces and perform visual inspections of the environment in addition to a radiation survey. This allows a management team to plan potential maintenance work. In turn, time on site can be reduced thanks to a prepared strategy based on a 3D model created during the Elios 3's visual inspection. Similarly, the RAD survey ensures that radiation levels are carefully monitored to ensure that the stored waste is stable and that there are no leaks.  

Radioactive or nuclear waste can include anything from nuclear power plant equipment such as heavy water, depleted uranium fuel rods or even radioactive cement, to more varied items such as old medical equipment. The Elios 3 RAD can make careful management of this material easier.  

The future of drone inspections in nuclear environments

The implementation of drones for radiation management represents a major step forward in improving safety in an increasingly complex sector. The Elios 3 drone with the RAD payload can be used for both nuclear power plants and waste management, where waste remains radioactive for thousands of years. ​ 

With many European countries looking to phase out their nuclear power plants, including Switzerland and Germany, the challenge of dealing with the remaining waste and materials and the need for the right tools to work at these sites will continue to grow. This while the need to inspect current nuclear plants will continue.  

As modern technology evolves to solve modern problems, the Elios 3 RAD offers a new way to collect more data from previously inaccessible areas while improving safety. It is an exciting step forward in the power generation and waste management sector.