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Radioactive Waste Cleanup Project Becomes More Efficient, Greener
Bechtel Jacobs decided to implement the solution using Alien Technology EPC Gen 2 passive RFID tags made with Alien's Higgs 3 RFID chips, in addition to Alien 9900 fixed readers and Motorola 9090G RFID handheld computers.
When a truck first enters the fleet, its identification data and tare weight are written to an RFID tag attached to that vehicle. After the truck has been loaded, a transportation specialist in the field uses a Motorola handheld to select specific shipping information, based on the project assignment and material types. Once the specialist completes a visual inspection, project-shipping data is encrypted and written to the vehicle's RFID tag. A process that originally required three forms of shipping documents totaling eight sheets of paper has now been reduced to employing a reusable passive RFID tag. Portable RFID sensor units—6.5-foot-tall towers containing Alien fixed interrogators—read each tag as the vehicle enters the route. The truck is weighed, and gross and net weights are automatically recorded from the scale and added to Bechtel Jacobs' waste transportation management system (WTMS).
Currently, Bechtel Jacobs has eight portable RFID sensor units deployed. Each contains two Alien 9900 readers, eight Alien circular polarized antennas, a network switch, an internal climate control, an inverter/power management system, a 48-hour backup battery, vehicle detectors, a solar controller with an external solar panel, external low-voltage signal lighting, and remote diagnostic and reporting capability, with internal and external temperature, humidity, vibration and tamper sensors.
Managers can observe the movements of vehicles via an interactive dashboard. Trucks move quickly through the system, having to stop only once to be weighed, thereby allowing an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to the disposal facility. Once a truck arrives at that location, operators in the disposal cell interrogate the RFID tags and write disposition data back to each tag, identifying cell activity. All activity is monitored by several groups within Bechtel Jacobs—namely, the company's D&D, transportation, physical security and disposal facility operations.
"Our goal was to enable the disposal facility to turn 240 shipments a day, to accommodate increased D&D activities supporting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Newton explains. "With this system in place, we accomplished that goal, as well as eliminated many manual processes which were time-intensive, allowing us to focus on the health and safety of our employees supporting Bechtel Jacobs' mission."
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When a truck first enters the fleet, its identification data and tare weight are written to an RFID tag attached to that vehicle. After the truck has been loaded, a transportation specialist in the field uses a Motorola handheld to select specific shipping information, based on the project assignment and material types. Once the specialist completes a visual inspection, project-shipping data is encrypted and written to the vehicle's RFID tag. A process that originally required three forms of shipping documents totaling eight sheets of paper has now been reduced to employing a reusable passive RFID tag. Portable RFID sensor units—6.5-foot-tall towers containing Alien fixed interrogators—read each tag as the vehicle enters the route. The truck is weighed, and gross and net weights are automatically recorded from the scale and added to Bechtel Jacobs' waste transportation management system (WTMS).
Currently, Bechtel Jacobs has eight portable RFID sensor units deployed. Each contains two Alien 9900 readers, eight Alien circular polarized antennas, a network switch, an internal climate control, an inverter/power management system, a 48-hour backup battery, vehicle detectors, a solar controller with an external solar panel, external low-voltage signal lighting, and remote diagnostic and reporting capability, with internal and external temperature, humidity, vibration and tamper sensors.
Managers can observe the movements of vehicles via an interactive dashboard. Trucks move quickly through the system, having to stop only once to be weighed, thereby allowing an uninterrupted flow of vehicles to the disposal facility. Once a truck arrives at that location, operators in the disposal cell interrogate the RFID tags and write disposition data back to each tag, identifying cell activity. All activity is monitored by several groups within Bechtel Jacobs—namely, the company's D&D, transportation, physical security and disposal facility operations.
"Our goal was to enable the disposal facility to turn 240 shipments a day, to accommodate increased D&D activities supporting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act," Newton explains. "With this system in place, we accomplished that goal, as well as eliminated many manual processes which were time-intensive, allowing us to focus on the health and safety of our employees supporting Bechtel Jacobs' mission."
