ANSTO automates radioactive waste storage processes

ANSTO, which produces nuclear medicine vital to the Australian health industry and undertakes research critical to many other industries, is now using a new Swisslog automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS).

The federal government campus in Lucas Heights, NSW, about 40 km south of the Sydney CBD, will utilise Swisslog’s technology to safely move 200-litre drums of low-level contact handled radioactive waste. The waste will be transported through a combination of conveyors, pallets (including 908 individual pallet locations), racking and Swisslog’s S12 Vectura crane.

ANSTO conducts some of Australia’s most important national scientific research and operates much of Australia’s landmark and national infrastructure, including one of the world’s most modern nuclear research reactors, OPAL.

“The technology solution for ANSTO has a number of additional safety benefits, specifically designed for this unique application,” said Swisslog Head of Sales and Consulting, Sean Ryan. “We included a drum inspection station, from which ANSTO will continue to accurately monitor drum characteristics. The entire system provides end-to-end traceability to optimise safety, tracking and efficiency.”

In addition to safety benefits, ANSTO’s new ASRS optimises use of available space by stacking pallets in a compact grid-like racking area, to make the best use of the available footprint of the site.

Swisslog’s ASRS is seamlessly integrated with ANSTO’s warehouse control system (WCS) to provide receipt and inspection timestamp tracking (such as compliance to pallet, weight dimensions and auto-receipt), zoning, accurate reporting and an intuitive interface with the host system.

Paula Berghofer, General Manager, Waste Management Services, ANSTO, said that in order to optimise safety and ensure the responsible, traceable management of radioactive waste at the facility, “the drums will be inspected periodically, and radiation levels will continue to be monitored”.

“These drums will be housed in the ASRS and then will be processed through a super-compactor into over-packs. It is intended that they would eventually be destined for Australia’s National Radioactive Waste Management Facility once it is established.”

ANSTO manages radioactive waste safely and in accordance with all standards set by several regulators including the independent nuclear regulator, ARPANSA.

Swisslog’s Vectura crane technology used at ANSTO is an energy-efficient high-bay warehouse pallet stacker crane used in more than 2000 sites globally. The company said that Vectura cranes can perform equally well in temperatures as low as -30°C in a frozen food warehouse or in ambient environments as high as +50°C. Depending on the storage density and throughput requirements of a warehouse, it can handle one, two or more loads in single, double, triple and multi-deep layouts.

In high buildings and where land space is limited, Vectura cranes operate at heights up to 50 m. Vectura cranes are also a more sustainable technology, with up to 20% lower energy consumption compared to traditional cranes, due to their mast design and lighter crane weight.

“Swisslog recently celebrated over 50 years of Vectura cranes. The technology — which has continuously improved over the decades — is one of the world’s most trusted ASRS solutions with nearly 4000 individual cranes in use around the globe,” Ryan said.