A year after a new off-site research center opened, Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) management is planning to put robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and other technologies into motion to reduce the Department of Energy’s $500 billion environmental cleanup projection.
In an interview with Exchange Monitor, SRNL Director Johney Green said the first year of operation at the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative (AMC) at the nearby University of South Carolina-Aiken was largely spent setting up shop. Labs, computers, and furnishings have been put in place in the $66-million facility that can augment DOE research at a facility outside the Savannah River Site fence. .
That research, Green said, will include increased robotics testing. DOE already used robotics to reach hazardous areas unsafe for humans, and Green believes the AMC will allow for more extensive testing to maximize robotics. Other functions of the lab will include studying how artificial intelligence can be applied to DOE missions, and ramping up the implementation of drones, fusion research and other projects.
“A lot of the time, we use hot cells for handling materials. But right now, the technology in those cells are decades old,” Green said. “So using automation, robotics, and AI to solve that problem would be a game changer. Those are the things we can learn to do at the AMC, to get these things done faster and more efficiently.”
These technologies can ultimately help DOE cut the projected costs of its environmental cleanup work at SRS and other nuclear sites in the complex. “Right now, the cleanup is projected to be about $500 billion. If AI and other resources can reduce that, we could save hundreds of billions of dollars. And we believe the Advanced Manufacturing Collaborative would help with that.”
Last August, DOE bosses on the federal level, as well as locally at the Savannah River Site, joined community stakeholders to open the AMC, a 60,000-square-foot facility. SRNL owns and operates the center, built by North Wind Group, as part of a public-private partnership between DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and the University of South Carolina Aiken.
The AMC was allotted a $10 million budget for Year 1, and Green hopes to see future funding stay in line with the needs and growth of the missions at the facility. He added that the public-private partnership with USC Aiken is similar to what he saw in his 21 years at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. That type of collaboration could result in additional partnerships, he said.
“Being a DOE lab means we’re a trusted partner,” Green said. “We’re not federal employees, but we provide sound wisdom and input. And that relationship means being a good community partner.”