Session: NDE-02-01 NDE Techniques and Applications for Petrochemical and Power Plant Components

Paper Number: 62058

Start Time: Tuesday, July 13, 2021, 05:00 PM

62058 - In-Service Inspection of Extended Dry Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Part I: Crawler Technology Development 

In-service Inspection of Extended Dry Storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel, Part I: Crawler Technology Development

Ryan M. Meyer¹, Jeremy Renshaw², Jamie Beard³, Jon Tatman², Spencer Toone⁴, Matt Keene⁵, Paul Plante⁶, Neil Fales⁶, Gabriel Grant⁷, Uwe Wolf⁸, Darrel Dunn⁹, Bruce Lin⁹

¹Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd., Richland, WA 99354

²Electric Power Research Institute

³Robotic Technologies of Tennessee, 699 E. 15^th St., Cookeville, TN 38501

⁴Arizona Public Service Company

⁵Duke Energy, 526 S. Church St., Charlotte, NC 28202

⁶Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, 331 Old Ferry Road, Wiscasset, ME 04578

⁷Southern Company

⁸Orano TN

⁹United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission

 

This paper describes development and demonstration of remote crawling systems to support periodic examinations of interim dry cask storage system (DCSS) canisters for spent nuclear fuel in the USA. Specifically, this work relates to robotic crawler developments for “canister” based DCSS systems which form the majority population of DCSSs, in the USA, for interim storage of spent nuclear fuel. Consideration of potential degradation of the welded stainless-steel canister in these systems is required for continued usage in the period of extended operation (PEO) beyond their initial licensed or certified terms. Challenges associated with performing the periodic examinations are associated with physical access to the canister surface which is constrained due to narrow annulus spaces between the canister and the overpack, tortuous entry pathways, and high temperatures and radiation doses that can be damaging to materials and electronics. Motivations for performing periodic examinations and developing robotic crawlers for performing those examinations remotely will be presented and several activities to demonstrate robotic crawlers for different DCSS systems will be summarized.

     

Presenting Author: Ryan Meyer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Authors:

Ryan Meyer Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Jeremy Renshaw Electric Power Research Institute
Jamie Beard Robotic Technologies of Tennessee
Jonathan Tatman Electric Power Research Institute
Spencer Toone Arizona Public Service Company
Matt Keene Duke Energy
Paul Plante Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company
Neil Fales Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company
Gabriel Grant Southern Nuclear Company
Uwe Wolf Orano TN
Karan Mauskar Orano TN
Darrell Dunn United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Bruce Lin United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission