Westinghouse Electric Corporation

David M Evans

Clark B Candee

Ricky L Tucker

John O Izzo

A shielded access door for a nuclear steam generator manway port having a beam of radiation streaming therethrough, the port being surrounded by a manway flange. The door comprises a bracket adapted to be removably connected to the flange. A plurality of swing arms have the first end portion thereof pivotally connected to the bracket. A first shield member is connected to the second end portions of the arms and is disposed parallel and adjacent to the port for shielding against the beam of radiation. The first shield member and the port define a gap therebetween for allowing access to the steam generator interiorly of the port while simultaneously shielding against the beam of radiation. The first shield member has a ventilation hole therethrough in communication with the port for ventilating the port, so that air-borne radioactive particles present interiorly of the steam generator are exhausted from the steam generator. A second shield member, which is attached to the first shield member, is coaxially aligned with the hole of the first shield member and is spaced-apart from the first shield member for preventing the beam of radiation from exiting through the ventilation hole. The second shield member is capable of being interposed between the beam of radiation and the hole for shielding the hole against the beam of radiation. Moreover, the first shield member is formed of light weight connectable segments to facilitate lifting and positioning of the door at the manway port.

Shielded access door for a nuclear steam generator manway port having a

An improved tube cutting apparatus and method for cutting through the inside of a metallic tube is disclosed herein. The apparatus generally comprises a support assembly which is slidably insertable within a tube, a flail tube cutting head connected to a short flexible shaft, and a linking shaft rotatably mounted within the support assembly for connecting the short flexible shaft of the cutting head to a longer flexible drive shaft. The center portion of the housing includes a mandrel circumscribed by a selectively expandable resilient bladder for temporarily affixing the support assembly to the inner wall of the tube in order to position the circular blade of the cutting head adjacent to a desired point along the longitudinal axis of the tube. The proximal and distal portions of the linking shaft include coupling assemblies for facilitating blade changes. In order to confine the cutting action of the blade on the cutting head to a thin circle around the inner wall of the tube, the support assembly also includes a thrust bearing that prevents the blade from moving longitudinally during the cutting operation.

Growing community of inventors

Spartanburg, SC, United States of America

David M Evans