Page 17 - Nuclear Plant Journal - March April 2013
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Nuclear Plant Journal, March-April 2013
17
critical path is not compromised. Current
methods involve physical contact with the
fuel assemblies and channels, and only
produce spatially coarse measurements.
Newer non-contacting tools can improve
the efficiency and accuracy of these
measurements.
The initial goal of the project is
to develop and demonstrate a non-
contacting, dimensional profiling tool for
light water reactor fuel assemblies and
channels that can measure macroscopic
distortion. A laboratory prototype has
been developed and is being tested using
several artificially distorted, square
channel extrusions as a surrogate for
an actual fuel assembly (see schematic,
showing the coincidence of emitted laser
lines in green and camera fields of view
in blue).
Results indicate that the system is
capable of approaching the accuracy of
current contacting technologies while
improving the spatial resolution to less
than 0.5 mm in the axial and transverse
planes of the assembly or channel.
Moreover, the laser device can achieve
scanning times comparable to those
achieved with standard visual inspections
during core off-loading, at about two
minutes per assembly. The camera
technology also is capable of capturing
digital video to simultaneously perform
visual inspections and measure the
distortion of the fuel assembly or channel
in a single scan, thereby eliminating the
need for two separate systems. EPRI
Technical Report 1025177 documents
the
development
and
laboratory
demonstration of this prototype.
The next phase of the project will
develop a field-deployable scanner
for measuring actual irradiated fuel
assemblies with various shapes and
magnitudes of distortion in a spent
fuel pool. The data generated will be
compared with measurements from
contacting technologies to qualify this
non-contacting, laser-based technology
for commercial technology transfer.
Contact: Rob Daum, telephone:
(630) 219-3676, email:
Source: Electric Power Research
Institute’s (EPRI) Nuclear Executive
Update, January, 2013.
Inspection of Safety and
Non-Safety Related Piping
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