Inspection tool for top guides of a boiling water reactor
AssigneeAreva GmbH
InventorCharles E. Werner
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tool for inspecting a cell formed by grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor is provided. The tool includes a camera; a support structure coupled to the camera for contacting at least one of the grid beams to support the camera within the cell; and at least one actuator moving the camera with respect to the support structure and along one of the grid beams, the at least one actuator coupling the camera to the support structure. A method for inspecting a cell formed by grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor is also provided.
Claims21
A method for inspecting a cell formed by grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor comprising:
- providing a tool including a visual inspection camera within the cell so that the tool contacts at least one of the grid beams and sits within the cell;
- and
- visually inspecting a first grid beam of the grid beams while the tool sits within the cell by moving the camera along the first of the grid beams, the visually inspecting including angling the camera toward a first corner of the cell, the tool including a cam and at least one vertical support, the cam contacting the at least one vertical support to angle the camera towards the first corner of the cell.
A method for inspecting a cell formed by sections of grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor comprising:
- providing a tool including a camera within the cell so that the tool contacts at least one of the grid beams inside the cell and sits within the cell such that the tool does not extend laterally past the sections of the grid beams forming the cell;
- and
- inspecting a first grid beam of the grid beams while the tool sits within the cell by moving the camera horizontally along the first grid beam.
A method for inspecting a cell formed by grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor comprising:
- providing a tool including a visual inspection camera within the cell so that the tool contacts at least one of the grid beams and sits within the cell;
- clamping the tool inside of the cell using a clamp forced against an interior of one of the grid beams inside the cell;
- and
- visually inspecting a first grid beam of the grid beams while the tool sits within the cell by moving the camera vertically along a corner formed by the first grid beam and a second grid beam of the grid beams and moving the camera horizontally along a bottom edge of the first grid beam.
A method for inspecting a cell formed by grid beams of a top guide structure in a nuclear reactor comprising:
- providing a tool including a visual inspection camera within the cell so that the tool contacts at least one of the grid beams and sits within the cell;
- and
- visually inspecting a first grid beam of the grid beams while the tool sits within the cell by moving the camera along the first of the grid beams,
- wherein the tool includes a base and guides extending downward from the base, the base resting on top surfaces of the grid beams forming the cell and the guides contacting corners of the cell inside the cell during the visually inspecting.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.