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Elios 2 tested at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
November 12, 2020—Flyability teamed up with DroneUA to embark on a mission at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The primary objective was to ascertain whether any nuclear waste remained in one of the plant's decommissioned reactors.
A year ago, Flyability’s skilled pilots ventured into the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the site of the catastrophic accident in April 1986. It was a tense operation, but one that bore fruit.
The video above captures the Elios 2 drone navigating Reactor Five. When the disaster struck, Reactor Five was still under construction and nearing completion. In the chaos that followed, no official records indicated whether the depleted uranium fuel bars had been placed in its holding pools.
Three decades later, the decommissioning team at Chernobyl sought answers. They tasked Flyability pilots with exploring Reactor Five to determine two critical points: whether any nuclear fuel bars were present and whether the essential equipment meant for the reactor had been installed.
The Elios 2 drone, renowned for inspections at nuclear facilities, offers enhanced safety and drastically reduces the time plants need to shut down for maintenance. This marked the first instance of a Flyability drone being employed in the decommissioning process of a nuclear power plant.
For those interested in understanding more about dosimeters, you can read our related article here.
“The mission was challenging because we had to fly over a 70-meter-high wall,†recalls Charles Rey, the Training Manager at Flyability and leader of the mission. “If the signal got lost, retrieval wasn’t an option. But the mission succeeded, and the team at Chernobyl was pleased with the visuals we captured.â€
Chernobyl’s decommissioning crew had limited experience using drones for remote data collection. The Elios 2 offered a unique advantage due to its protective cage, enabling safe entry into confined spaces for inspection.
Despite the reactor’s stability, accessing areas where nuclear waste might have been stored proved impossible due to their height. Pilots positioned themselves in a 25-meter-deep pit, a location rendered inaccessible when the reactor was operational.
With the Elios 2, pilots managed to gather sufficient visual data proving the pools were empty and no nuclear waste existed within. These findings were unprecedented, as no prior evidence confirming the emptiness of these pools had surfaced.
Following the mission, the visual evidence collected was slated for inclusion in a report submitted to international authorities, detailing the plant’s reactor status.
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About Flyability
Flyability, a Swiss enterprise, develops tools for inspecting and exploring indoor, inaccessible, and confined spaces. By enabling drones to operate safely indoors, it helps industrial entities and inspection experts cut downtime, inspection expenses, and worker risks. With clients spanning over 50 countries across sectors like Power Generation, Oil & Gas, Chemicals, Maritime, Infrastructures & Utilities, and Public Safety, Flyability remains a pioneer and leader in the commercial indoor drone market.
For more details, visit www.flyability.com or follow us on @fly_ability.
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