Quadruped robots with CBRN capability for nuclear safety: from the experience of CERN's CERNquadbot to a possible safety improvement of MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd.

Abstract

In the 21st-century security environment, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats have become an integral part of emergency response, intensifying the demand for robotic solutions that protect responding personnel. This article examines the nuclear-safety applications of quadruped robotic platforms, focusing on CERN's CERNquadbot, which completed its first radiation-protection test in 2024. CERN built the CERNquadbot on a commercial Unitree Go1 base platform, adding dedicated radiation-measuring sensors and autonomous inspection software. The analysis compares the CERNquadbot with the documented nuclear deployments of the Boston Dynamics Spot (Dominion Energy, Fukushima, Chornobyl). It evaluates, along three hypotheses, the platform's technical soundness, its operational advantages over traditional manual measurement, and its domestic applicability. The main finding is that the similarity between the hazard factors and infrastructure of CERN and MVM Paks Nuclear Power Plant Ltd. provides a strong basis for technology transfer: the cost-effective, open-platform approach proven at CERN could also be applied at the Paks facility fire brigade, where no robotic platform is currently in service. The author outlines concrete scenarios for automating radiation reconnaissance, replacing routine radiation-protection rounds, and pre-familiarising responders with the intervention spaces of Paks II, and highlights the legal, organisational and training conditions of deployment. The conclusion is that deploying a CBRN-capable quadruped robot in the domestic nuclear-energy sector is timely, technically feasible, and represents a tangible advance in nuclear safety.