23
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,
Dr.
Alan C. Stanton, Business Official,
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG02-03ER83781
Amount:
$750,000
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 determined the best wavelengths for detecting water
vapor and heavy water vapor, demonstrated a simple signal recovery method, and
showed the proposed approach is
accurate and sensitive. In Phase II,
a prototype camera will be designed, built, and
tested, both in the laboratory and at a research reactor.
The effects of radiation on key components will be studied, and the best
method for continuous monitoring inside the containment area will be identified.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits as
described by awardee: The system should benefit the civilian nuclear power industry and
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.