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System for Imaging Leaks from the Primary Water Loop--Southwest Sciences, Inc., 1570 Pacheco Street, Suite E-11, Santa Fe, NM  87505-3937; 505-984-1322, www.swsciences.com
Dr. David Christian Hovde, Principal Investigator, dchovde@swsciences.com 
Dr. Alan C. Stanton, Business Official, astanton@swsciences.com 
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83781
Amount:  $100,000

The primary water loop in a nuclear reactor includes numerous welds which can, over time, develop leaks.  Existing methods for leak detection are slow, resulting in costly down-time.  A system that could rapidly identify the location of leaks would improve the safety and economics of plant operation.  This project will develop technology for illuminating the leaking area with a hand held camera.  The camera will include a laser beam that detects the presence of water escaping from the leak.  The image of the water will be superimposed on a video image of the weld, so that an operator can instantly identify the leak location.  The system also will indicate areas of the weld that have been sufficiently illuminated but do not leak.  Phase I will determine the best laser wavelength, demonstrate a simple signal recovery method, and show that the proposed approach is accurate and sensitive.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee:  The system should benefit the civilian nuclear power industry and the U.S. Navy nuclear powered submarines.  By suitably adjusting the laser wavelength, additional products could be developed for monitoring natural gas lines and detecting toxic gas leaks at oil refineries.