Automatic data acquisition for visualizing radioactive substances by combining a gamma-ray imager and an autonomous mobile robot

Abstract

To reduce the exposure doses of workers and to establish decontamination plans, it is important to understand and visualize the distribution of radioactive substances at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan, where an accident occurred on the 11th of March, 2011. In this decommissioning work environment, radioactive substances adhered to various objects, such as rubble and equipment, and it was necessary to visualize the distribution of these contaminants in all three dimensions. The technology used to automatically and remotely acquire data to visualize the distribution of radioactive substances in three dimensions was useful for reducing the exposure dose of the workers and to shorten the survey time. We constructed an automatic data acquisition system that consisted of a Compton camera and a 3D-light detection and ranging sensor mounted on an autonomously moving robot. We also evaluated the system feasibility using radiation sources and succeeded in automatically acquiring the data required for visualizing the radiation sources. For this data acquisition, the operator did not need to operate the system after the measurements were started. The effects of the imaging parameters of the Compton camera and the accuracy of the self-position estimation of the system on the radiation-imaging accuracy are also discussed.