The Orano Melox industrial site manufactures MOX nuclear fuel assemblies from recycled uranium and plutonium. Matthieu Rosenberg shares his feedback on his first collaboration with Psycle.
What did you need to monitor?
Matthieu Rosenberg: Our fuel comes in the form of pellets about 9 millimeters in diameter and 13 millimeters high. The diameter must be perfectly controlled because these pellets are inserted into zirconium tubes more than 4 meters long. To achieve this, they go through a grinder confined in a glovebox. They are then loaded onto a tray at the conveyor outlet, and this is the operation we needed to monitor continuously, because the pellets are sometimes badly positioned. If we don't correct the problem, they fall off the tray and become unusable.
Psycle's AI-assisted vision solutions fit perfectly into the culture of operational performance we have established in our plant.
What did Psycle propose?
MR: Our machine was already equipped with a camera; Psycle proposed making it smart by capturing the video stream and analyzing it with its algorithm. The vision solution is coupled to the machine to stop the process and alert the control room as soon as a problem is detected.
How did the implementation go?
MR: Everything went smoothly, thanks to the involvement of the machine operators. They contributed their ideas on where to install the hardware and fed the algorithm with their expertise. The Psycle team was at their side, in the field, determined to find the right solution for our needs.
Are you satisfied with the results?
MR: Yes, very. We have practically eliminated the problem. Given our production targets and the value of the fuel pellets, the return on investment is very positive.