From February 2-4, 2016, the International Workshop on the Use of Robotic Technologies at Nuclear Facilities will be held in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in conjunction with its U.S. and foreign counterparts is sponsoring the workshop, which will include the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency; the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST); the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (DOE/OEM); the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, Office of Standards; the United Kingdom’s Atomic Energy Authority; and, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. The American Nuclear Society (ANS), ASTM International and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society are also collaborating on the workshop.

The workshop is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on February 2, 2016 at the Green Auditorium on the NIST campus at
100 Bureau Drive in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Interested stakeholders must register to attend the meeting and pay the associated $71.00 registration fee.

The workshop will cover existing and potential future uses of robotic technologies in safety applications and activities at nuclear facilities. The workshop will examine topics including how robots can evaluate plant systems; how robots can locate and recover radioactive material; and, how non- nuclear applications can be adapted to nuclear situations. The workshop will include discussion of lessons learned from historic nuclear applications and experiences (e.g., Three Mile Island, Sellafield, and Fukushima Daiichi); ongoing research; and, other relevant applications (e.g., NASA’s Martian rovers).

For additional information, please contact Scott Burnell of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-8200.