Remote Gamma Scanning System for Characterization of BWR and PWR Fuel Rod Sections
Sometimes challenges with the design and deployment of automated equipment in remote environments deals more with the constraints imposed by the remote environment than it does with the details of the automation. This paper discusses the development of a scanning system used to provide gamma radiation profiles of irradiated fuel rod segments. The system needed the capability to provide axial scans of cut segments of BWR and PWR fuel rods. The scanning location is A-Cell at the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory (RPL) at the Hanford site in Washington State. The criteria for the scanning equipment included axial scanning increments of a tenth of an inch or less, ability to scan fuel rods with diameters ranging from 3/8 inch to 5/8 inch in diameter, and fuel rod segments up to seven feet in length. Constraints imposed by the environment included having the gamma detector and operator controls on the outside of the hot cell and the scanning hardware on the inside of the hot cell. This entailed getting a narrow, collimated beam of radiation from the fuel rod to the detector on the outside of the hot cell while minimizing the radiation exposure caused by openings for the wires and cables traversing the hot cell walls. Setup and operation of all of the in-cell hardware needed to accommodate limited access ports and use of hot cell manipulators. The radiation levels inside the cell also imposed constraints on the materials used.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 1051205
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-80099; DP1706000; TRN: US1204773
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: Proceedings of the 3rd International Joint Topical Meeting on Emergency Preparedness and Response and Robotics and Remote Systems (EPRRSD), the 13th Robotics and Remote Systems for Hazardous Environments, and the 11th Emergency Preparedness and Response, August 7-10, 2011, Knoxville, Tennessee, 278-286
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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