• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.25-40
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• 2016

The Systems Engineering (SE) approach is characterized by the application of a structured engineering methodology for the design of a complex system or component. In this study, the SE methodology is used to design a nondestructive inspection system for Bottom Mounted Instrumentation (BMI) nozzles. We developed a system that enables nondestructive inspection of BMI nozzles during regular refueling outage without removing the reactor internals. A special ultrasonic (UT) probe is introduced to scan and detect cracks within the weld region of the nozzle. A 3D model of the inspection structure system was developed along with the reactor pressure vessel (RPV) and internals which permits a virtual 3D simulation of the operation to check the design concept and effectiveness of the system and to provide a good visualization of the system. This approach allows for a virtual walk through to verify the proposed BMI nozzle inspection system.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.13-18
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• 2016

Toshiba has developed a laser peening system for PWRs(pressurized water reactors) as well after the one for BWRs(boiling water reactors), and applied it for BMI(bottom-mounted instrumentation) nozzles, core deluge line nozzles and primary water inlet nozzles of Ikata Unit 1 and 2 of Shikoku Electric Power Company since 2004, which are Japanese operating PWR power plants. Laser pulses were delivered through twin optical fibers and irradiated on two portions in parallel to reduce operation time. For BMI nozzles, we developed a tiny irradiation head for small tubes and we peened the inner surface around J-groove welds after laser ultrasonic testing (LUT) as the remote inspection, and we peened the outer surface and the weld for Ikata Unit 2 supplementary. For core deluge line nozzles and primary water inlet nozzles, we peened the inner surface of the dissimilar metal welding, which is of nickel base alloy, joining a safe end and a low alloy metal nozzle. In this paper, the development and the actual application of the laser peening system for PWR power plants will be described.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.228-235
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• 2016

Flaws at dissimilar metal welds (DMWs), such as reactor coolant systems components, Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM), Bottom Mounted Instrumentation (BMI) etc., in nuclear power plants have been found. Notably, primary water stress corrosion cracking (PWSCC) in the DMWs could cause significant reliability problems at nuclear power plants. Therefore, phased array ultrasound is widely used for inspecting surface break cracks and stress corrosion cracks in DMWs. However, inspection of DMWs using phased array ultrasound has a relatively low probability of detection of cracks, because the crystalline structure of welds causes distortion and splitting of the ultrasonic beams which propagates anisotropic medium. Therefore, advanced evaluation techniques of phased array ultrasound are needed for improvement in the probability of detection of flaws in DMWs. Thus, in this study, an investigation of focusing and steering phased array ultrasound in DMWs was carried out using a time reversal technique, and an adaptive focusing technique based on finite element method (FEM) simulation. Also, evaluation of focusing performance of three different focusing techniques was performed by comparing amplitude of phased array ultrasonic signals scattered from the targeted flaw with three different time delays.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.153-161
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• 2009

After several PWSCCs were found in Bugey(France), Ringhals(Sweden), Tihange(Belgium), Oconee, Arkansas, Crystal Fever, Davis-Basse, VC Summer(U.S.A.), Thuruga(Japan), USNRC and PNNL started the research on PWSCC, that is, PINC project. The aim of this project is to fabricate and obtain representative NDE mock-ups with flaws to simulate tight PWSCC cracks, to identify and quantitatively assess NDE methods for accurately detecting, sizing and characterizing tight cracks such as PWSCC, to document the range of locations and crack morphologies associated with PWSCC and observed responses and to incorporate findings from other ongoing PWSCC research programs, as appropriate. By participating in PINC project, Korean morphology technique about PWSCC and NDE technique have improved and become similar lever with other advanced country. Therefore, the evaluation technique of integrity for nickel alloy component has been improved by cooperation with university, research institute and industries.