Machinery protection firm Beakbane has won an order from Sellafield nuclear plant after developing new covers for robotic arms.

The Kidderminster-based firm said its latest range of protective covers make it easier, cheaper and safer to service the equipment used to handle hazardous radioactive material.

They will be used at the plant in Cumbria for vitrification – the means by which high-level liquid waste is turned into a solid form.

The covers, known as gaiters, are fitted to the slave end of the master-slave manipulators (MSM) – large robot arms – that are used to handle radioactive materials during activities such as the disposal of nuclear waste and the processing of nuclear fuel.

The gaiters reduce the amount of radioactive contamination the arms pick up in service and hence reduce the amount of decontamination required if they have to be removed for repair or servicing.

Beakbane has been supplying protective gaiters to the Sellafield for around 20 years.

Its products reduce decontamination, which is a laborious and expensive process, as the more contamination there is on the manipulator arm the more expensive it is to clean it.

Beakbane’s managing director Barry Reeves said: “One of our core capabilities is to apply our expertise, experience and manufacturing capabilities to solve customers’ problems.

“In this case we have developed a product that is mechanically stronger, can resist extremely aggressive environments and produces considerable benefits for the customer.

“We expect there to be a lot of interest in this new product wherever there is a need for remote handling in tough and hazardous environments and at extreme temperatures.”

Mr Reeves said the vitrification is a tough radioactive working environment and the presence of heat and chemicals makes it even more hostile.

In these conditions, polyurethane gaiters can become embrittled and tear, which allows radioactive particles to contaminate the slave arm and defeats the point of fitting them in the first place.

Working closely with Sellafield engineers, Beakbane developed a replacement gaiter made from woven cloth which is bonded to a layer of aluminium foil.

This is mechanically stronger than the previous material and can also withstand the changes of temperature. The gaiters are around 1.5m long and 300mm in diameter and are split into two parts.

At one end they incorporate an O-ring that forms a seal to safeguard to the farthest point.

As each polyurethane gaiter in the vitrification plant reaches the end of its service life, it is replaced with one of the new aluminised glass cloth gaiters.

Improvement engineer Colin Etheridge said: “Using our committed teams in conjunction with Beakbane, together we have developed a better product that not only keeps the manipulator cleaner but can have significant reductions in the amounts of effluent produced in the cleaning process.

“Improvements in the above areas reduce our waste and environmental footprint.”