1,- 1Technical Research Centre of Finland – VTT Ltd, Finland
- 2Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute of Technology and Management in Construction, Deconstruction and Decommissioning of Conventional and Nuclear Buildings, Karlsruhe, Germany
- 3WAI s.r.o., Slovakia
In the next decades, many countries around the world will need to decommission their nuclear facilities as they have reached, or they will reach the end of their lifecycle. Nuclear decommissioning is very challenging because it was not foreseen during the planning and construction of the existing facilities, so many challenges and uncertainties are to be handled during decommissioning activities. Therefore, NDPs (Nuclear Decommissioning Projects) are relatively new, there are not fully standardized methods for carrying them out, and they are performed on a case-by-case basis depending on the country. At the international level, a common understanding of NDPs is being sought and the EU (European Union) has been funding programmes for research projects in this area.
Between October 2020 and November 2023, the project PLEIADES (PLatform based on Emerging and Interoperable Applications for enhanced Decommissioning processES) [1] was funded by the EC (European Commission) through the EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community) programme. This project resulted in a platform connecting different digital tools together to improve the efficiency of the planning activities. Further research development needs were considered at the end of the project, mainly regarding extending the integrated technological tools, the ontology and data transfer.
Launched in September 2024, the project DORADO (Digital twins and Ontology for Robot Assisted Decommissioning Operations) [2] is being carried out by a consortium that includes 7 of the former PLEIADES participants among others. Also funded by EURATOM, the main objective of DORADO is to improve safety and efficiency in NDPs using digital technologies such as AI (Artificial Intelligence), BIM (Building Information Modelling), robotics, voice recognition, or sensor data visualization. During DORADO, a digital twin (DT) using ontology-based data transfer protocol will be created. This DT will integrate digital tools into a coherent suite for broad variety of decommissioning applications. The following digital technologies may be analysed and implemented within the platform: sensor data fusion with temporal dimension; environment data comparison against BIM; point-cloud and 3D model change detection; dynamic modelling of digital twins for ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) dose estimation and planning; server-based integration with IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) file format and extended data queries; mission planning and robot route optimization; human-to-system smart voice assistant interface; and standardization using the common ontology.
Once completed, the platform aims to be used for tasks like: cost estimation; on-site waste characterization and sampling; remote segregation and packaging planning; risk identification and knowledge management; robotics and remote handling systems; or surface and structure cleaning, among others.
Sources
[1] PLEIADES Project website: https://pleiades-platform.eu
[2] DORADO Project website: https://dorado-project.eu
How to cite: Räty, A., Ridao Cabrerizo, J. A., Daniska, D., Gentes, S., and Rentschler, E.: Digital Twins and Ontology for Robot Assisted Decommissioning Operations: DORADO project, Third interdisciplinary research symposium on the safety of nuclear disposal practices, Berlin, Germany, 17–19 Sep 2025, safeND2025-120, https://doi.org/10.5194/safend2025-120, 2025.
