Diakont has just released a new sipping system for their refueling machines, for the purpose of detecting compromised fuel cladding resulting in “leakers”.
In the traditional cask method of testing fuel assemblies, they were loaded into special heated casks for testing. Following this the assembly was put back into the reactor. The duration of this process was unacceptable to plant operators. The new system conducts radionuclide inspection of SKGO fuel assemblies simultaneously during offloading, which significantly reduces outage duration. Average VVER fuel offload duration has been reduced from 30 days to 11 days.
The mechanical portion of the system is integrated in Diakont’s refueling machine mast, and delivers compressed air under the liner of the fuel assembly. After passing through the assembly, air is drawn into the test chamber for sampling. The system has been integrated entirely into the automated fuel offloading/shuffle/loading program, so that, if desired, the assembly inspection can be conducted entirely automatically without human intervention.
For more information about Diakont Refueling Machines, click here.