Portable robotic welder for nuclear waste handling

Abstract

An automated welding system for sealing high level radioactive waste containers in the field at the nuclear plant site. The system includes a programmable portable robotic welder comprising a multi-jointed articulating robotic arm. A welding head operable to form a weld is mounted to the arm. Operation of the robotic welder and ancillary components is controlled by a programmable controller which implements a welding plan. In one embodiment, a circumferentially-extending lid-to-shell hermetic seal weld may be formed by the robotic welder. The weld is completed in multiple welding passes through the weld joint between the lid and shell guided by an automated joint tracking sensor linked to the controller. The highly portable robotic welder is detachably mountable on the lid to perform the welding. An automated pivotable cable-conduit management apparatus keeps electrically conductive wiring and flow tubing out of the path of the rotating robotic arm during welding.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.