Cable reels to help in US nuclear cleanup

A Kabelschlepp Metool product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Oct 20, 2004

Kabelschlepp Metool has won two contracts totalling $7 million to supply high-specification cable reels for the US Department of Energy's waste treatment plant project in Washington State, USA.

Kabelschlepp Metool has won two contracts totalling $7 million to supply high-specification cable reels for the US Department of Energy's waste treatment plant project in Washington State, USA.

The $5.7 billion waste treatment plant is being designed, built and commissioned by Bechtel National.

The project centres on the Hanford site in south-eastern Washington which, from the Manhattan Project onwards, has been used for a number of nuclear-related purposes, including plutonium production and research and development.

A large portion of the 53 million gallons of highly radioactive and hazardous waste currently stored in underground tanks at Hanford will be vitrified into glass logs at the waste treatment plant and made ready for eventual transfer to permanent disposal sites.

The reels will be used for feeding 12 remotely controlled cranes being built by PaR Systems of Minneapolis and ACECO of Philadelphia for the waste vitrification plant.

There are two types of reel: those for PaR have twin cables carrying power and a wide variety of functions, such as controls, camera feed, variable speed/variable frequency motor drive, Profibus and resolvers to the robotic arms.

The ACECO cranes have a single-cable reel supplying power and control of similar design.

Kabelschlepp Metool has over 20 years' experience in designing and manufacturing reels for the British nuclear industry.

For Hanford, the reels are of a special through-wall design with the reels and cables on the radioactive side and drive and slip rings on the safe side.

The reels are driven by Metool's patented Vectorq electronic drive system to control torque and tension.

This design enables the reels to be energised continuously, so ensuring that the cable is controlled at all times and eliminating the possibility of slack.

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