Detecting Twisted and Bowed PWR and BWR Fuel Assemblies with Newton Labs QUAD400UW
Developed in collaboration with EPRI, Newton Labs (newtonlabs.com) is preparing to deploy its QUAD400UW Fuel Assembly Measuring System with a major US nuclear utility. The QUAD400UW is mounted in the spent fuel pool and provides instant full CAD models and high resolution human viewable images of all four sides on both BWR and PWR fuel assemblies. With the instant results available from the QUAD400UW, decisions about the bundles can be reached almost immediately.
The QUAD400UW was developed to detect bowing in BWR fuel bundles and twisting in PWR fuel assemblies as well as other defects in fuel bundles. It is described in the EPRI report number 1025177, which EPRI members can download from the EPRI website. The QUAD400UW incorporates 4 of Newton Labs' Underwater Nuclear Laser Scanners, fully radiation protected, and allows for movement of the fuel bundle during scanning so that precise fuel bundle location is not required while inspecting the fuel bundles.
The QUAD400UW can inspect bundles for bowing and twisting with scan times as short as 30 seconds as well as provide full detail of the bundles with slower and higher resolution scans. It features a u-shaped inspection area so that fuel bundles can be simply hung from the crane and swung into position. The QUAD400UW moves on a rail on the side of the spent fuel pool. In some spent fuel pools it can utilize the current Fuel Prep Machine Rail already installed in many spent fuel pools.
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