Use of a remotely operated vehicle (submarine) for nuclear plant inspections

Conference · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1989 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Supplement; (USA)

OSTI ID:5267972

Duink, S S; Adam, J D

This paper describes the use of a specialized remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to perform visual inspections underwater in nuclear power plant. An underwater ROV, or minisubmarine, for visual inspections has several advantages over the more traditional camera-on-a-pole techniques and can perform some inspections easily that in the past were considered too difficult to conduct remotely. Other advantages include radiation dose savings, outage critical path savings, and reduced manpower and expenses. Some of the principal advantages of the ROV is its maneuverability, accessibility, and stability. This ROV is remarkably stable and has some stationary positioning capabilities. A necessary inspection inside a boiling water reactor (BWR) steam drier would not have been practical using other techniques. Containment suppression pool inspection was once considered nearly impossible using conventional remote inspection equipment; however, the ROV has reduced this mammoth task to one of a few person-days without the risk of having a diver in the water. Inside the BWR vessel this unit can inspect everything above the top guide. Because of the radiation-resistant color camera, the ROV proved extremely helpful during fuel movement for fuel assembly identification, orientation, and core verification. Fuel pools, reactor cavities, and storage pools all have liner seam welds that the ROV can readily inspect while they are flooded without interfering with other work occurring simultaneously.

• OSTI ID: 5267972
• Report Number(s): CONF-890833--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Supplement; (USA) Journal Volume: 59
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS
210100* -- Power Reactors
Nonbreeding
Light-Water Moderated
Boiling Water Cooled
BWR TYPE REACTORS
CONTAINMENT
CONTAINMENT SYSTEMS
COOLING SYSTEMS
DOSES
ECONOMICS
ENERGY SYSTEMS
ENGINEERED SAFETY SYSTEMS
EQUIPMENT
FUEL POOLS
INSPECTION
JOINTS
LINERS
MODIFICATIONS
PRESSURE SUPPRESSION
RADIATION DOSES
RADIATION PROTECTION
REACTOR COMPONENTS
REACTOR COOLING SYSTEMS
REACTORS
REMOTE VIEWING EQUIPMENT
ROBOTS
SHIPS
SUBMARINES
TRAINING
USES
VERIFICATION
WATER COOLED REACTORS
WATER MODERATED REACTORS
WELDED JOINTS