On April 26, we will celebrate the 34th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. I worked there with robots to eliminate disasters, the first robotic installation was, it was a "crossover". When the helicopter overturned and crashed near the reactor, all the pilots died, after which, the electricians were instructed to develop an installation that could move through the reactor, a wire. The transfer was carried out by the military, with the help of missiles. If it is interesting, I will write about it in detail.
Now in more detail, I wanted to tell you about the following:
During the construction of the sarcophagus over the 4th block, the task was set to launch the third block of the nuclear power plant. The fourth exploding block was technically connected to the third block. It was necessary to cut all the pipes between the blocks and all the pipes of the 3rd block to roll onto themselves. The cutting of the pipes was also done by automated installations.
And then the problem arose - how to weld zirconium pipes in the presence of a large radioactive background? The welding of zirconium pipes is carried out in the following way - a constant current and a stream of inert argon gas is supplied to the needle of wolfram, an electric arc of 1.5-1,7 mm is lit, and this arc welds the zirconium pipes between them. The fight lasts two hours. I knew only two welders who, in narrow conditions, could produce such welding. One finger led on the seam, and the other hand supported the burner. The second welder did this with the help of a removable mirror. But the use of welders was immediately refused, as the welders took the dose within half an hour. Therefore, for welding the seam needed 4 welders. And the seams had to be welded within 2 thousand.
At first, an order for the development of a welded robot was submitted to the Paton Institute in Kiev, but it was said that they needed several years to develop.
Development was undertaken by PRP BAER (Beloyarsk AtomEnergoRepair Manufacturing Enterprise), in a short time the robotic installation, and then two more were ready. Our engineers are a miracle. They calculated the step of the planetary reducer on paper. Without the use of calculators and computers, as, at the time, they simply did not exist! When I adjusted the height of the electric arc, the engineer looked at the arc through the dimmed glass and said the height of the arc: "Height 2.5 mm! It is now 1.9mm. Now a few microns less! Now the norm is 1.7 mm!”
Further, the robotic installations were brought to the 3rd block of the nuclear station and they began to weld the seams. The soldiers brought and installed them there, the operator turned on the program and they began to do the job instead of people. When the robotic installations moved to the next mark, after two minutes, they almost immediately failed. In my home, in a relatively clean room on the 3rd block of the nuclear station, I replaced their burned chips, chased them on all modes, but as soon as they were taken back on the mark, then in a few minutes they went out of order. It continued several times! Changing the chips, so that they immediately went wrong, no longer made sense. A, it meant the collapse of the task of launching the 3rd block! The whole world disappeared before my eyes. First, the room itself disappeared, where there should be walls, I saw some light lines, instead of people saw a cluster of curved lines. But the most interesting thing I’ve seen is how the robotic installations on the mark are failing! I saw them burning their microchips! When I recovered, I already knew that I needed to change the schemes so that they continued to work smoothly. The task was completed, the 3rd block worked, though, not for a long time. Further, the collapse of the Union, the separation of Ukraine, and all the specialists began to receive copies and became unnecessary to the country, which was no longer!
My friends, Soviet engineers, all the liquidators of the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, are dedicated!