Areva Np Gmbh

Areva Gmbh

Framatome Anp Gmbh

Framatome Gmbh

Joseph R Wyatt

John Carroll Griffith

Mihai G M Pop

Jeffrey M Fleck

Mihai G Pop

Victor Newman

Russell M Matney

John C Griffith

A method of operating a nuclear reactor is provided. The method includes defining a layer increment of a deposit layer modeling a deposit on a heat transfer surface of the nuclear reactor; periodically updating a thickness of the deposit layer by adding the layer increment to the deposit layer; recalculating properties of the deposit layer after each layer increment is added to the deposit layer; determining a temperature related variable of the heat transfer surface as a function of the recalculated properties of the deposit layer; and altering operation of the nuclear reactor when the temperature related variable of the heat transfer surface reaches a predetermined value. A method of modeling a deposit on a heat transfer surface of a nuclear reactor is also provided.

Operating a nuclear reactor using a deposit model of a nuclear reactor heat transfer surface

A method for determining tube support plate blockage of a steam generator includes the following steps: measuring at least five different eddy current values per tube support intersection; calculating a nominal clean fit radius of flow hole; determining a center signal response; converting the center signal response to a deposit thickness; determine an edge reduction; converting the edge reduction to an edge thickness; calculating the resulting flow hole radius; verifying the reasonableness of the resulting flow hole radius; and determining a virtual calibration range.

Eddy current method for the characterization of broached tube support plate blockage

Eddy current for the characterization of broached tube support plate blockage

A method to determine deposits in a steam generator having the steps of creating a calibration standard having at least two rings of deposit material, subjecting the calibration standard to an eddy current signal, wherein an amplitude of the signal reflected from the calibration standard is used to obtain a polynomial equation fit of the reflected eddy current signals to actual thickness of the rings, obtaining a steam generator with tubes, initiating an eddy current signal into the tubes of the steam generator, detecting and recording reflections of the eddy current signal initiated into the tubes of the steam generator, and determining a thickness of the deposits in the steam generator from the recorded reflections of the eddy current signal and the polynomial equation.

Steam generator mapping with reflections of eddy current signal

A method for sizing cracks is disclosed using a combination of depth crack sizing methods to improve crack sizing accuracy for thin walled tubing and tight crack surface openings less than 0.001 inches for cracks of any depth. The tube or plate wall can consist of a single material or multiple metallic electrodeposited or otherwise intimately bonded layers of materials with different magnetic properties and the sizing method comprises known depth sizing methods such as shear wave, time of flight and the selective use of two unique depth sizing methods designated as Mode Converted Signal (MCS) and Full Skip Normalization (FSN) which provide correction factors for the known sizing methods.

UT detection and sizing method for thin wall tubes

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Lynchburg, VA, United States of America

Joseph R Wyatt