Heat Pipe Assembly of Nuclear Apparatus Having Fiber Optical Temperature Detection System

A heat pipe assembly of a nuclear apparatus, the heat pipe assembly comprising:

• a number of heat pipes, the number of heat pipes each being elongated and being of a substantially circular cross section;
• a detection system structured to determine a number of temperatures at each of a number of location along each of at least a subset of the heat pipes of the number of heat pipes, the detection system comprising at least a first fiber optic cable assembly that is elongated and is wrapped in a helical fashion onto an exterior surface of a heat pipe of the at least subset;
• the detection system further comprising an optical signal generator that is structured to generate an optical signal and to supply the optical signal to the fiber optic assembly;
• the detection system further comprising a sensor that is structured to detect a number of reflections of at least a portion of the optical signal from each of a number of locations along at least a portion of the length of the fiber optic assembly and to generate an output that is representative at least in part of at least some of the number of reflections;
• and
• an instrumentation system structured to receive the output and to determine, based at least in part upon the output, the number of temperatures.