Drone pilots have successfully completed 2 flight firsts on the Sellafield site leading the way to increased safety of employees during decommissioning.
The successful deployment of the Elios 3 drone equipped with a LiDAR sensor marks a major milestone for the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) team, enabling Sellafield Ltd to achieve unparalleled efficiency in mapping and 3D modelling.
Hot on the heels of this first flight the team then successfully flew the Elios 3 drone with a RAD (radiation activity detection) dosimeter which they hope will allow them to map radiation hotspots in areas before other colleagues go into unused areas of the Sellafield site.
Amanda Smith, UAV equipment programme lead, Sellafield Ltd, highlighted the safety and financial benefits of deploying a drone for the mapping.
Buoyed by the success of this flight, Sellafield made history again recently as the first UK nuclear site to employ a drone equipped with a radiation monitor.
This innovative addition aims to assess radiation levels and identify potential hot spots in areas where radiation exposure levels are unknown.
The deployment of the drone with a radiation payload demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to exploring innovative solutions for radiation assessment, reducing risk to those working on the Sellafield site.