Dedicated sensors are widely used throughout many industries to monitor everyday operations, maintain safety, and report performance characteristics. In order to adopt a more sustainable solution, much research is being applied to self-powered sensing, implementing solutions which harvest wasted ambient energy sources to power these dedicated sensors. The adoption of not only wireless sensor nodes, but also self-powered capabilities in the nuclear energy process is critical as it can address issues in the overall safety and longevity of nuclear power. The removal of wires for data and power transmission can greatly reduce the cost of both installation and upkeep of power plants, while self-powered capabilities can further reduce effort and money spent in replacing batteries, and importantly may enable sensors to work even in losses to power across the plant, increasing plant safety. This thesis outlines three harvesting opportunities in the nuclear energy process from: thermal, vibration, and radiation sources in the main structure of the power plant, and from thermal and radiation energy from spent fuel in dry cask storage. Thermal energy harvesters for the primary and secondary coolant loops are outlined, and experimental analysis done on their longevity in high-radiation environments is discussed. A vibrational energy harvester for large rotating plant machine vibration is designed, prototyped, and tested, and a model is produced to describe its motion and energy output. Finally, an introduction to the design of a gamma radiation and thermal energy harvester for spent nuclear fuel canisters is discussed, and further research steps are suggested. / Master of Science / In this work multiple energy harvesters are investigated aimed at collecting wasted ambient energy to locally power sensor nodes in nuclear power plants, and in spent nuclear fuel canisters. Locally self-powered, wireless sensors can increase safety and reliability throughout the nuclear process. To address this a thermal energy harvester is tested in a radiation rich environment, and its performance before and after irradiation is analyzed. A vibrational energy harvester designed for use on large rotating machinery is discussed, manufactured, and tested, and a mathematical model describing it is produced. Finally, an introduction to harvesting radiation and heat given off from spent nuclear fuel in dry cask canister storage is investigated. Power capabilities for each design are considered, and the impact of such energy harvesting for wireless sensor nodes on the longevity, safety, and reliability of nuclear power plants is discussed.

The wireless sensor network is a key technology in the 21st century because it has multitude applications and it becomes the new way of interaction between physical environment and computer system. Moreover, the wireless sensor network is a high resource constraint system. Consequently, the techniques used for the development of traditional embedded systems cannot be directly applied. Today wireless sensor nodes were implemented by using only one single processor architecture. This approach does not achieve a robust and efficient energy wireless sensor network for applications such as precision agriculture (outdoor) and telemedicine. The aim of this thesis is to develop a new approach for the realization of a wireless sensor network node using multicore architecture to enable to increase both its robustness and lifetime (reduce energy consumption).

Le réseau de capteurs sans fil est une technologie clé du 21ème siècle car ses applications sont nombreuses et diverses. Cependant le réseau de capteurs sans fil est un système à très forte contrainte de ressources. En conséquence, les techniques utilisées pour le développement des systèmes embarqués classiques ne peuvent être appliquées. Aujourd’hui les capteurs sans fil ont été réalisés en utilisant une architecture monoprocesseur. Cette approche ne permet pas de réaliser un capteur sans fil robuste et à énergie efficiente pour les applications telles que agriculture de précision (en extérieur) et télémédecine. Les travaux menés dans le cadre de cette thèse ont pour but de développer une nouvelle approche pour la réalisation d’un capteur sans fil en utilisant une architecture multicoeur pour permettre à la fois d’augmenter sa robustesse et sa durée de vie (minimiser sa consommation énergétique). / The wireless sensor network is a key technology in the 21st century because it has multitude applications and it becomes the new way of interaction between physical environment and computer system. Moreover, the wireless sensor network is a high resource constraint system. Consequently, the techniques used for the development of traditional embedded systems cannot be directly applied. Today wireless sensor nodes were implemented by using only one single processor architecture. This approach does not achieve a robust and efficient energy wireless sensor network for applications such as precision agriculture (outdoor) and telemedicine. The aim of this thesis is to develop a new approach for the realization of a wireless sensor network node using multicore architecture to enable to increase both its robustness and lifetime (reduce energy consumption).