• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.455-463
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• 1998

RCCA(rod cluster control assembly) End-Tip suffers from neutron irradiation and constant vibration due to high-speed internal flow of primary coolant during plant operation. Such operating conditions cause the RCCA end-tip crackings around tile circumferential weldment of the end-tip, and in some cases, the defective end-tips were completly broken loose. However, no reliable inspection techniques for end-tip crackings were developed in the past, although some techniques exist for inspecting RCCA control rod wears. Therefore, NDE group at KEPRI has developed an ECT technique for the detection and the sizing of the end-tip crackings. The technique uses a specially designed surface-riding probe that can detect size of circumferential crackings with an accuracy of ${\pm}5.31%$ RMS error. This paper describes the ECT instrumentation including the ECT probes, calibration bars, as well as technical approaches.