Detection Apparatus Usable In A Nuclear Reactor, and Associated Method

A method of detecting a condition of a fuel rod from among a plurality of fuel rods of a fuel assembly, the fuel rod having a cladding that has an interior region, the fuel rod being situated within a nuclear reactor, the method comprising:

• employing a detection apparatus to detect the condition, the detection apparatus being cooperable with an electronic processing apparatus situated outside of the nuclear reactor, the detection apparatus having a transmitter that is structured to be positioned outside the cladding and inside the nuclear reactor in the vicinity of the fuel rod, an electrical circuit apparatus having a resonant electrical circuit that is structured to be supported within the interior region, the resonant electrical circuit comprising a plurality of circuit components, at least one circuit component of the plurality of circuit components having a property which is structured to vary in response to a condition of the fuel rod and which, responsive to a change in the condition, is structured to cause the property and the response pulse to vary with the change in the condition and to be indicative of the condition, and a receiver structured to be supported within the nuclear reactor outside the cladding and in the vicinity of the fuel rod;
• the employing comprising:
• generating with the transmitter an excitation pulse and transmitting the excitation pulse through the cladding and into the interior region;
• generating with the resonant electrical circuit a response pulse in response to the excitation pulse and transmitting the response pulse in the form of a magnetic field signal from the interior region and through the cladding;
• and
• receiving on the receiver the response pulse and communicating to the electronic processing apparatus an output responsive to the response pulse.