Nuclear Plant Journal, May-June 2015 NuclearPlantJournal.com
47
Tooling support frame installation.
AEP
radiation
protection
containment oversight also trained with
AREVA for several days. One example
of an engineering control derived from
training was the coating of the carbon
steel hoist chains to prevent rusting and
the spread of contamination.
Innovation
The standard approach to internals
bolt replacement has been to use a mast
to deliver tools to a bolt location. This
standard approach closely mimics the
positioning system that has been used
previously for baffle bolt replacement
by AREVA. However, no baffle bolt
repair project to date has used a mast
of sufficient length to reach the lower
end of the reactor vessel. There would
have been many risks associated with the
standard approach.
Instead, the team decided early
on in the project to automate the
tooling operations which provides for a
consistent, efficient, safe, and ALARA
repair process. AREVA engineers
designed an innovative tooling system in
order to perform the RV LRSS clevis bolt
replacement with the highest potential
for success. The system was designed
to perform underwater replacement
activities while working remotely from
refuel floor work platforms.
The tooling system consisted of
a tooling support frame that installed
into the reactor vessel and included six
independent tooling stations, one located
at each clevis. The tooling support frame
was constructed of structural tubing and
hydraulically clamped to the clevis array
for rigidity. The ‘hex’ configuration
frame design allowed for repairs to be
completed on all six clevis locations
without having to reposition and reset the
frame.
An X-Y-Z positioning module was
designed for manipulation/positioning
of each of the various tool end effectors
required for the repair process. The
X-Y-Z positioning module was installed
onto the tooling support frame at each
tooling station as needed during the
execution of the repair. The X-Y-Z
positioning module included a robotic
coupling that was remotely actuated to
engage/disengage each tool and provided
the ability for precisely controlled,
accurate, and repeatable tool positioning.
Two X-Y-Z positioning modules were
installed which permitted work to be
performed at two locations in parallel.
In order to facilitate parallel operations,
tasks were performed from either of two
work platforms: the refueling machine
positioned tangent to the open reactor
vessel on one end of the refuel cavity and
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