The overall aim of the EU funded project DORADO (Digital twins and Ontology for Robot Assisted Decommissioning Operations) is to improve safety and efficiency in nuclear D&D by applying digital technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Building Information Modeling (BIM), using a dedicated decommissioning ontology. In the DORADO project, a holistic digital platform based on a data-driven approach will be created, integrating digital tools into a coherent suite customized for decommissioning applications. Once completed, the platform can be utilized especially for in situ waste characterization, planning segregation and packing remotely, robotics and remote handling systems, characterization and sampling, clearance of surfaces and structures, cost estimation, risk identification, and knowledge management, including on-site voice assistance to the fieldworkers.  

The DORADO project will focus on several technologies that will be developed and integrated to be used with a common data server combining the data flow following the BIM methodology. These include, e.g., point-cloud data, 3D models and change detection, Digital Twins (DTs) based ALARA dose estimation, robot mission optimization, and smart voice assistant interface. After the technological implementation development phase, all the results will be demonstrated with data sets collected from real nuclear facilities.   

Main expected impacts are minimizing radiation exposure and risk of occupational incidents to workers, as well as increasing the efficiency of decommissioning planning by enabling remote operations and planning. This can result in significant cost reduction and optimized Waste Management (WM) strategies among others, increasing the social acceptance towards nuclear energy. Utilizing a decommissioning-specific ontology will allow capturing and sharing the complex information involved in D&D projects, enabling better planning, decision-making, and knowledge reuse. Benchmarking digital tools with demonstrations from nuclear facilities also assists the regulators to understand the future technical possibilities and to update regulations to cover all the changes in the operating environment